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SKETCH 



HISTORY OF HARYARD COLLEGE. 



SKETCH 



HISTORY OF HARVARD COLLEGE. 



AND OF ITS 



PRESENT STATE, 

BY 

SAMUEL A. ELIOT 



BOSTON: 

CHARLES C. LITTLE AND JAMES BROWN 

1848. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1848, By S. A. 
Eliot, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District 
of Massachusetts. 



boston: 

printed by freeman and bolles, 
devonshire street. 



PREFACE 



The following short account of Harvard College 
was originally intended to be an abridgment of 
President Quincy's full and interesting History ; 
and the design has been so far followed that his 
authority has been deemed sufficient for the state- 
ment of the facts appropriate to a brief narrative. 
But it was not thought necessary that the small 
book should be a mere abstract of the large one. 
Other sources of information have, therefore, been 
consulted, different views occasionally j)resented, 
and the opportunity has been taken to make some 
additions to the history of the College. Still it is 
proper to say that a prominent motive for this work 



VI PREFACE. 

was the wisli to excite rather than to gratify curi- 
osity ; and to induce the perusal of the more elabo- 
rate book, by giving brief intimations of the various 
subjects of interest which are there treated at 
length. 

Mr. Peirce's History stands upon the same high 
ground of authority, for the shorter period to which 
it relates, as President Quincy's ; and reference to 
it has been constantly made, with similar confidence, 
in the following pages. 

The Appendix contains a list of donations to the 
College, both from the legislature and from individ- 
uals, on which much labor has been bestowed. It 
was first prepared three or four years ago ; was 
revised, to be communicated to a committee of the 
legislature the last mnter, and has now been re- 
examined in every part, and carefully corrected. The 
liability to error is so great in such a catalogue of 
particulars, extending over the space of two cen- 
turies, that entire freedom from mistake can scarcely 
be expected, notwithstanding the pains taken, and 
the aid obtained, in forming the list. The librarian, 



PREFACE. Vll 

Dr. Harris, a learned antiquary, has furnished some 
important items ; and all the names, dates, and sums 
of the private donations have been diligentlj inves- 
tigated hj Mr. Edward Richardson. The records 
of the General Court were thoroughly searched, for 
all appropriations to the College, by Mr. George 
W. Peck. 

The plan of the College enclosure has been com- 
piled from original deeds, as far as practicable. The 
descriptions in those early documents are so imper- 
fect, that the boundaries of the more ancient estates 
must be, in some degree, a matter of conjecture. 
The limits of the recent purchases, however, are 
well ascertained. 

August. 1848 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



1636 — 1640. 



Page 

Grant of " the Court," for establishing a College . . 3 

Bequest of the Rev. John Harvard . . . . . 6 

1640 — 1654. 

DuNSTER, President 8 

College Laws 9 

« Seal 12 

" ClL^RTER 13 

Dunster's Resignation and Death 15 r 

1654 — 1672. 

Chauncy appointed 16 

His PECULIAR Opinions 16 

Indian Graduate 19 

Eliot's Indian Bible, etc 19 

Donations to the College 20 



X TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

1672—1684. 

Page 

PREsroENT Hoar 22 

Discontent in the College 23 

Hoar's Resignation and Death 23 

OaKES APPOINTED — HIS SHORT Te EM 24 

President Rogers 25 

Donations 25 

1685—1701. 

Increase Mather, President 26 

His Influence 28 

New Charter of the Colony . . . . . .28 

Proposed Charters for the College 30 

Donations 31 

Graduates 32 

Manners 33 

1701—1707. 

Vice-Presidency of the Rev. Samuel Willard ... 34 

1707—1725. 



Presidency of John Leverett — ins Character . 
Growth of the College — Graduates 

Thomas Hollis 

Professorship of Divinity 

" OF Mathematics .... 

Claim of Instructers to Seats in the Corporation 
System of Instruction and Discipline . 

Jealousy of the College 

Election of the Rev. B. Wadsworth . 



36 
37 
39 
41 
43 
45 
51 
52 
54 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. XI 

1725—1737. 

P»g« 
Claim of Episcopal Ministers to be admitted to the Board 

OF Overseers ^"^ 

Donations ^^ 



1737 — 1774. 

President Holyoke chosen ^ 

Isaac Greenwood, Professor of Mathematics ... 61 

Nathan Prince, dismissed 62 

Kev. George Whitefield 63 

Controversy . .65 

Harvard Hall burnt 68 

Rebellion "70 

Professor Wigglesworth 72 

Professor "Winthrgp 72 

Tutor Flynt 73 

Mrs. Holden 74 

Graduates 75 

Thomas Hancock 76 

Rev. Samuel Locke 77 

Hersey and Boylston Professorships 78 

Treasurer Hancock 79 



1774 — 1780. 



Dr. Langdon chosen President 
Removal of the College to Concord . 
Degree of LL. D. conferred on Washington 
Constitution of Massachusetts . 
Paper Money, depreclvtion of the Currency 
Db.. Langdon Resigns 



80 
81 

83 
84 
86 



XU TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



17S1 — 1806. 



Dr. Joseph "Willard chosen 90 

Professors of Anatomy and Chemistry .... 91 

System of Prizes 91 

College Catalogue 94 

Visit of President Washington 95 

Members of the Corporation, and of the immediate Gov- 
ernment 96 

1804—1810. 

Fisher Ames 97 

President Webber 97 

Professorship of Natural History founded ... 97 

Dr. Ware, Hollis Professor 99 

1810 — 1828. 

EiuECTioN OF Dr. Kirkland 101 

Progress of the College . 103 

Great amount of Donations 105 

Discipline . 106 

Controversy revived respecting Seats in the Corporation 106 

Professorships filled and founded 108 

Professional Schools established 108 

Dr. Kirkland's Resignation and Death . . . .110 

Present State of the College Ill 

Studies, Course of 112 

Stimulus to Exertion 115 

College Buildings 115 

" Funds 116 

" Discipline 118 

Medical School 119 

Law School 122 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 


XUl 


THEOLOGiCAii School 


Page 

. 123 


Scientific School 


. 125 



APPENDIX. 

Law of 1642, creating a Board of Overseers . . . 129 

Charter of 1650, incorporating the President and Fellows 130 

The Harvard Family in England 134 

Monument of John Harvard, at Charlestown . . 138 

Epitaphs 140 

Address of the President and Fellows to Washington in 

1789 150 

Reply of Washington 152 

List of Grants prom the Legislature .... 153 

" Donations and Bequests from Individuals . . 158 

Plan of the College Enclosure 188 



ERRATA. 
Page 105, line 15 from top, for received read made. 
« 140, « 3 « « " Flmt " Plynt. 
"■ 155, " 5 " " the date 1754 should be placed in the 
margin. 



HISTORY 



OF 



HARYAED COLLEGE. 



1636 — 1640. 



It is a source of mingled regret and satisfaction, that 
the earliest history of civilized man in this country is 
so recent, that there is little room for tradition and 
little opportunity for fiction. What is called the poetry 
of history is lost, and we are obliged to limit ourselves 
to a view of facts which lie distinctly before us, within 
the easy reach of a careful eye. If there be no fic- 
tion, however, surrounding the facts with its misty, yet 
pleasant illusions, there is often poetry in the facts 
themselves ; there is grandeur in the firm resolve, 
there is sublimity in the noble purpose, there is pathos 
in the afflictions, and beauty in the affections, of our 
forefathers. They are often regarded as men of iron 
mould, who cared little for their own sufferings, or for 
those of others ; who had made up their minds to be 
martyrs, rather than submit to dictation in matters of 
conscience, and to make martyrs of such as would not 
1 



xJ HISTORY OF 

yield to them. A much truer view is to consider them 
as men who were willing to brave danger and hardship, 
not with insensibility or indifference, but with a full 
perception of the disagreeableness of the task, for the 
sake of obeying the dictates of their own consciences ; 
and who simply expelled from their commonwealth those 
who stubbornly refused to comply with requisitions 
which they deemed essential. They were a voluntary 
association, and had certainly a right to prescribe the 
rules of their own society. That they were not men 
of a stony insensibility, might be shown by proofs with- 
out number ; but the history of the College leads us 
rather to the consideration of the nobleness of their 
natures, their high aspirations, and their determination 
to cultivate their intellectual, moral, and religious 
powers, under the most difficult circumstances that can 
well be imagined to interfere with such a purpose. 
What can show this better than their resolution to 
establish a College by public authority, recorded within 
six years from the earliest settlement of Boston, when 
they had encroached so little on the wilderness, that 
they did not venture to place the school more than two 
miles back from the waters of the bay ; and when the 
whole civilized population amounted to only a few hun- 
dreds of persons, scattered thinly from Ipswich to 
Cohasset, and from Watertown to Boston ? The terri- 
tory thus occupied extended forty or fifty miles, north 
and south, and six or seven, east and west ; and nearly 
in the midst of this narrow strip, on an extended plain 
bordering a pleasant river, did our forefathers deter- 
mine that a school or College should be founded. It 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 6 

was not a barren determination ; for in 1636 they ap- 
propriated .£400 to this purpose, and in the following 
year appointed twelve of the principal men of the Col- 
ony " to take order for a College at Newtown," where 
they had decided that suitable buildmgs should be 
erected. 

What manner of men were these, who, at such a 
time, when they were few and feeble, surrounded by 
savages, in a country whose resources were yet to be 
developed, and of which so little was known that it 
might be said to be even unexplored, when dangers 
were imminent, and only the more alarming because 
they were undefined, could deliberately plan and exe- 
cute the establishment of a school for the maintenance 
of good learning ? Is it possible not to honor such 
men, — acquainted with the advantages of civilized 
life, yet sacrificing them all for conscience' sake, — 
knowing the importance of mental cultivation, and 
determined to sustain it under the most adverse cir- 
cumstances, — willing to contribute largely of their 
means to a purpose that was never to repay a penny in 
a direct form, — and resolved, that, if they succeeded 
at all in their perilous enterprise, they would succeed 
as well-instructed Christian men, and not as mere con- 
querors of savages, or speculators in gold, or silver, or 
lands ? They contemplated being the fathers of a great 
people, and with this magnificent idea before them, 
they did all in their power to promote the well-being of 
the generations to come, who were to be like the stars 
of heaven that cannot be numbered. 

This noble example of Massachusetts is not only in 



4 HISTORY OF 

itself admirable, but it has the distinction of being en- 
tirely without parallel in the history of the world, either 
before or since. The colonies of ancient days were so 
radically unlike those of modern times, that no com- 
parison whatever can be instituted ; nor is there much 
similarity between the character of English settle- 
ments, and that of such as have been derived from 
other nations of modern Europe. But even among the 
colonies of England herself, there may be observed 
very great diversities ; and nowhere, out of the limits of 
New England, was there that deep impression of reli- 
gious feelings and motives which constituted the most 
obvious element in the character of our Puritan fathers. 
The prominent distinction of some of the other planta- 
tions, like those of Pennsylvania and Maryland, and, at 
a later period, of Georgia, was, that they were de- 
signed to be free from all exclusiveness, that they were 
open to men professing all opinions on religious sub- 
jects, provided they were peaceable citizens ; and this, 
certainly, is praise enough, and, in the judgment of 
some persons, it is a higher encomium than can be 
passed on the first settlers of Massachusetts. At all 
events, it is very different from what must be said of 
our fathers. They had not reached this idea of uni- 
versal toleration ; nor were they so anxious for imme- 
diate success, as to be desirous to encourage all comers, 
by whatever motives they were influenced. They 
wished to plant a church. This was their leading 
idea, the idea that seems never to have been absent 
from their thoughts and their wishes. It was to be 
their own church, of course ; established and main- 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 5 

tained on such principles, and in such a form as seemed 
to them consonant with Scripture and reason ; and they 
did not intend to have it intruded on by Antinomians, 
Antipoedobaptists, or anybody else that did not stand 
on the same platform as themselves. Thus it hap- 
pened that they became exclusive, that their church 
officers were their state officers, and their church 
members their only freemen and voters. 

In their earliest years the settlements of Plymouth 
and Salem were essentially ecclesiastical governments ; 
and the principal difference between them arose from 
the superior wealth and numbers that were soon found 
in the Massachusetts colony, and which gave the pre- 
ponderance to the more northern settlement. But it 
must always be remembered, that the exclusiveness and 
bigotry of our fathers were confined to matters of re- 
ligious faith and church government. On all other 
subjects they entertained the largest and most liberal 
views. Their leaders were men of well-cultivated 
minds, and they intended that their successors should 
be so too. Religion was the first object with them, as 
of right it should be with us, and with all men ; but 
they did not neglect the subordinate ends of life, since 
they are all means of that religious progress which 
they desired to make ; and thus when the College was 
founded, it was done, not merely that the churches might 
have able pastors, but that " learning might not be 
buried in the graves of the fathers." 

However well disposed the leading men of the Colony 
might have been to this object, and however great was 
the influence they exercised over the community, they 



b HISTORY OF 

could scarcely have succeeded in the plan, but for the 
manner in which they were seconded by those individ- 
uals who were most favored with this world's goods, 
and by the interest which was early excited in many 
persons in England, for sustaining such a remarkable 
effort for intellectual cultivation amid the trials incident 
to the situation of the colony. In 1638, two years after 
the grant by the " the country " of c£400,the Rev. John 
Harvard, of Charlestown, gave by his will the sum of 
^779. 17. 2. in money, and more than three hundred 
volumes of books. 

It is to be lamented that so very little is known of 
a man whose name is deservedly commemorated in 
that of the College, to which his bequest was so timely 
and so bountiful an aid. He had been but a few months 
in the Colony, though long enough to acquire the re- 
spect of his associates, and to excite in himself the 
strongest sympathy with the effort to extend the means 
of education. He was a scholar, as well as an ortho- 
dox divine, and a practical Christian ; and it is a strik- 
ing characteristic of the age, and of the individual, that 
a man of such character, and in such circumstances, 
should have been found in his position. The sum above 
named was but the half of his property, and must be 
esteemed equal to six or seven times the same nominal 
amount at the present day, — sufficient, certainly, to 
secure to its possessor the comforts of life, as they 
would then have been esteemed. And yet he leaves 
his native country, a voluntary exile, and resorts to the 
feeble settlement of a scanty colony, in an unknown 
wild, and preaches the gospel to the little flock that can 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 7 

be found there to attend his ministrations. If there be 
such a thing as strength in the human character, or 
elevation of purpose, and superiority to worldly advan- 
tages, in the human heart, surely they were exhibited 
by John Harvard. 

From the date of his bequest the College may be 
considered as established. Other private persons were 
induced to follow his example, and funds were fur- 
nished to such an extent as to make it pretty certain 
that the infant seminary would not be suffered to fall or 
languish for want of suitable nourishment. The first 
class was formed in 1638, the year in which Harvard's 
bequest was received, and then started from its foun- 
tain that intellectual stream which has never ceased to 
flow with a widening and deepening current for two 
centuries. It would be interesting to trace the effect 
which the early establishment of the College, and 
the importance attributed by our fathers to education, 
have had upon the character of the Commonwealth, 
and the reciprocal influence which the College and the 
neighboring city have had upon each other ; but they 
are sufficiently obvious, perhaps, in the favor which, at 
nearly all periods, has been shown by the State to insti- 
tutions and means of education ; in the intellectual cul- 
tivation which is valued in the city ; and the freedom 
from scholastic prejudice which may be considered an 
honorable characteristic of Harvard College. As long as 
expansion of mind, and the development of mental power 
and physical resources, are thought advantageous to so- 
ciety, the debt of gratitude due to those who secure such 
blessings to their posterity should not be forgotten. 



HISTORY OF 



1640—1654. 



It does not appear, in any record, to whom was in- 
trusted the principal charge of the government and 
instruction of the College during the first two years of 
its existence ; but in 1640 the Rev. Henry Dunster 
arrived from England, a man so eminently qualified, by 
his learning, his ability and his virtues, for the ofhce of 
president, that he seems to have been placed in it at 
once, by a sort of acclamation and general consent. 
Immediately upon his arrival he was waited on by the 
governor, magistrates, elders and ministers ; and, as 
he afterwards said, such " promises, encouragements, 
and allurements" were held out to him, as decided him 
to accept the appointment. Whatever may be thought 
of the result to his own comfort and happiness, there 
can be no doubt that his acceptance was singularlj^ 
beneficial to the institution. Probably the College has 
never had a more able, faithful, devoted officer than 
Dunster. His labors were not confined to the toils of 
instruction and government ; but, in the midst of these, 
he was obliged to struggle, and not always successfully, 
for the means of support for himself, the College, and 
the more needy of his pupils. He was greatly instru- 
mental, also, in procuring the enactment of the Charter 
of 1650, which, as it subsists to this day, connects us 
directly with the fathers of the State and of the College. 
The republic of letters remains under the original laws 
by which it was created ; and it is no small proof of 



HARVARD COLLEGE. JJ 

the wisdom with which they were devised, that, not- 
withstanding many attempts at improvement, and amidst 
the vast, the ahuost incredible changes which have 
taken place, since their enactment, in everything 
around the College, — in the organization of society, in 
manners, habits, wealth, knowledge, and numbers, — 
the very first plan of the Corporation should still remain 
unaltered, and the constitution of the board of Overseers 
should have been modified but once. 

The laws for the government of the house have not 
continued thus unchanged, though marked by no small 
amount of the wisdom of that age, which perhaps 
might, with good effect, have been preserved in the 
practices of the present. At least, let the youth of our 
day look back for six generations, and consider with 
how much patience they would submit to rules against 
which the young men of two centuries ago never thought 
of rebelling. It is not altogether easy for us to imagine 
that there were boys and young men in those early 
days. When we think of ancient times we are apt to 
picture to ourselves ancient men ; and to forget that 
there were sons, as well as fathers, two centuries ago. 
But the following law of the Dunster code presents 
to us a vivid picture of the manners required then, 
which have long been superseded by a style of which 
the improvement upon fashions that have passed away 
may admit of a question. " They [the students] shall 
honor, as their parents, the magistrates, elders, tutors, 
and all who are older than themselves, as reason re- 
quires, being silent in their presence, except when 
asked a question, not contradicting, but showing all 



10 HISTORY OF 

those marks of honor and reverence which are in 
praiseworthy use, saluting them with a bow, standing 
uncovered," ^ &c. The use of their mother tongue 
was prohibited, and perhaps so much might be effected 
by law even now ; but it would be entirely unsafe to 
predict what would be the substitute for it in familiar 
use. 2 Latin, surely, would scarcely be thought of. 

The mode of discipline authorized by the " seven- 
teenth rule" is a recorded proof of what otherwise 
might hav«^ rested on obscure tradition only, that our 
fathers, in common with their contemporaries gene- 
rally, were not well informed upon one characteristic 
of human nature, at least. The degrading and brutal- 
izing effect of stripes has been so often, so eloquently, 
and so learnedly demonstrated in modern times, and 
has been shown, besides, by the experience of so many 
ages, that it has become a matter of especial wonder 
that the generations which grew up under such a lia- 
bility did not relapse into barbarism, rather than make 
any further progress towards civilization. We, of the 
nineteenth century, sympathize deeply, and even pain- 
fully, with the feelings, wounded and indignant as ihey 
must have been, of a future baronet, a governor, three 

* Honore prosequuntor, ut parentes, ita magistratus, presbyteros, 
tutores, suosque omnes seniores, prout ratio poslulat ; coram illis ta- 
centes nisi interrog-ali, nee quiequam contradicentes, eis exhibentes 
honoris et reverentise indicia qu8ecunque laudabili usu recepta sunt, 
incurvato nimirum eorpore salutantes, aperto capite adstanles, &c. 
Quincy's History, vol. i. p. 577. 

2 Scholares vernacula lingua intra CoUegii limites nullo prsetextu 
utuntor, nisi ad orationem aut aliud ali(iuod exercitiuna publicum An- 
glice habendum evocati fuerint. Ibid. i. 578. \ 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 11 

presidents of the College, and thirty-seven ministers of 
the gospel, to say nothing of the less distinguished in- 
dividuals, all of whom were exposed, for the four years 
of their college life, to the cruelty permitted in the fol- 
lowing law, sanctioned by the benighted Dunster. " If 
any student shall violate the law of God and of this 
College, either from perverseness, or from gross negli- 
gence, after he shall have been twice admonished, he 
may he ivhipped, if not an adult ; but if an adult, his 
case shall be laid before the overseers, that notice may 
be pubHcly taken of him according to his deserts. In 
case of graver offences, however, let no one expect such 
gradual proceedings, or that an admonition must neces- 
sarily be repeated in relation to the same law." ' 

The enforcement of the " twelfth rule " would, in 
these days, certainly afford frequent occasion for both 
the admonition and the rod, and one cannot but suspect 
that, even then, the police of the College must have had 
some calls for activity, both in word and in deed. " No 
scholar shall buy, sell, or exchange anything of the 
value of sixpence, without the approbation of his pa- 
rent, guardian, or tutor. But if he shall do so, he 
shall be fined by the president, according to the meas- 
ure of his offence." ^ 

^ Siquis scholarium ullam Dei et hujus Collegii legem, sive animo 
perverse, seu ex supina negligentia, violarit, postquam fuerit bis admoni- 
tus, si non adultus, virgis coerceatur ; sin adullus, ad Inspectores Col- 
legii deferendus erit, ut publice in eura pro meritis animadversio fiat ; 
in atrocioribus autem delictis, ut adeo gradatim procedatur, nemo ex- 
pectet, nee ut admonitio iterata super eadem lege necessario fiat 
Quincy's History, vol. i. p. 578-9. 

2 Nullus scholaris quicquam, quod sex denarios valeat, nuUo paren- 
tum, curatorum, aut tutorum approbante, emito, vendito, aut commu- 



12 HISTORY OF 

In 1640 the court granted to Harvard College, in 
perpetuity, the right of ferry between Charlestown and 
Boston ; a right of no inconsiderable value at that time, 
and the increasing revenue of which was very proba- 
bly regarded, and intended, as a resource to meet the 
growing wants of an institution that must needs increase 
with the progress of the colony. Subsequent legisla- 
tion has rendered this grant memorable, and the loss 
which the College has ultimately incurred has, perhaps, 
been the means of calling forth efforts, which have 
certainly been needed, to supply deficiencies that would 
not have existed if the original grant had remained' un- 
touched. However deeply, therefore, the friends of 
the College may regret the course which has been pur- 
sued, they may well rejoice at the abundant evidence, 
from innumerable sources, of the general determina- 
tion to support and increase the prosperity of the in- 
stitution. 

In December, 1643, a vote was passed by the gov- 
ernors of the College to adopt a common seal, in a form 
which has the qualities of simplicity and appropriate 
beauty. Three books were spread open on a shield, 
and upon them was inscribed the word Veritas, ex- 
pressing, in the most emphatic manner, the object of the 
institution, and indicating the most prominent means by 
which it was to be attained. It does not appear that 
this device was ever engraved, or used ; though it has 
the merit of being more comprehensive, and more sim- 
ple, than the first seal which was actually used, and 

tato. Quum autem secus fecerit, a preeside pro delicti ratione multa- 
bilur. Ibid. i. 578. 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 13 

which had the motto " In Christi Gloriam." This, 
as it would be ordinarily understood, conveys the erro- 
neous impression that the institution was designed to 
be, or that it actually was, a theological school ; and 
such an idea is still more directly countenanced by the 
motto subsequently introduced, and which is still in use, 
Christo et Ecclesi^. Veritas includes every spe- 
cies of truth, and is therefore more strictly in unison 
with the known plan and character of the College, 
The simplicity of the device, characteristic of that age, 
recommends itself to the best taste of all ages. 

In 1642 and 1643 many large donations of money, 
types, books, &c. were made by persons in England, 
and in the colony. Some of the money which came 
from abroad was taken by the General Court, and inte- 
rest was allowed for it, at the rate of more than nine 
per cent. This was continued for many years, and 
then discontinued for some time ; till at length, in 
1713, the original sum was repaid, with interest at six 
per cent, from 1685. In 1650 the College charter was 
granted, and, probably, it was because this remained for 
a long period the only act creating a body corporate, 
that the board which it organized came to be designated, 
in this community, the corporatio7i ; and even now, 
when innumerable similar acts have been passed, the 
corporation^ in familiar conversation, means that of the 
College. By this act the property of the school, to 
the amount of c£500* of annual income, was exempted 
from taxation. 

' Pounds sterling must have been meant, as the currency of infe- 
rior value, called lawful, had not yet been created, and was not au- 



14 HISTORY OF 

Notwithstanding these various gifts and grants, from 
individuals and the legislature, the position of the Col- 
lege must have been one of great want. The wealth 
of the entire community was not large, and the portion 
of it devoted to the College, by even a distinguished 
liberality, was not sufficient to save either teachers or 
scholars from the real evils of actual poverty. For 
fourteen years Dunster was their fellow-laborer and 
friend, their guide and instructor ; and might, perhaps, 
have continued at his post much longer, had he not 
fallen into a fatal error, in the estimation of our fathers, 
that destroyed his usefulness to them. It excites our 
astonishment, certainly, to find what importance was 
then attached to opinions and practices which seem 
now of little moment. But so it was. Of equally little 
real moment, probably, are many of the points agi- 
tated at the present day ; and we must judge leniently, 
therefore, of the infirmities of our predecessors, as we 
would not be hardly dealt with by those who are to 
come after us. 

In 1653, Dunster fell under suspicion of favoring the 
Antipoedobaptists ; a suspicion which soon ripened into 
certainty ; for, unable to withhold his countenance from 

thonzed till 1652 ; nor was its market value ascertained till 1653. [See 
Felt's Massachusett's Currency, pages 31-3.] In 1753 a resolve was 
passed, by the provincial legislature, reiterating the exemption of the 
property of the College, in consequence of the attempt of the town of 
Braintree to levy a tax on Bumpkin Island, in Boston harbor, then and 
still belonging to the College ; and a natural interpretation of the 
resolve might be that the lawful currency was intended. But this is 
controlled by the necessary construction of the charter, which remains 
in force to this day, and which was granted at a period when none 
but sterling money was known. 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 15 

what he believed to be the truth, he preached in pubHc 
against the administration of baptism to infants. The 
orthodox spirit of the whole colony was instantly- 
roused ; and the strongest, because involuntary, testi- 
mony is borne to the intellectual power and moral in- 
fluence of Dunster, by the alarm his defection excited, 
and the harsh measures dictated by that feeling ; while 
his conscientiousness is attested by the meekness of his 
submission to the rebukes which were sternly adminis- 
tered. It is a perfect illustration of the ecclesiastical 
character of the colonial government of that day, thai 
he was " indicted hy the grand jury for disturbing the 
ordinance of infant baptism in the Cambridge church." ^ 
He was tried, convicted, and sentenced to receive an 
admonition on Lecture day, and to be laid under bonds 
for good behavior ; and the next year, in October, 
1654, he was compelled to resign the presidency of the 
College. He retired to Scituate, in the jurisdiction of 
Plymouth colony, where he shortly afterwards died. 
In compliance with his dying request, his body was 
brought back to Cambridge, that it might rest near to 
the College which he had loved and served so faith- 
fully.^ The Bible that belonged to him, of which the 

1 Quincy^s History, vol. i. p. 18. 

2 A monument was erected over Dunster's remains, which, appa- 
rently, was the model upon wliich the monuments to other presidents, 
buried in the Cambridge church-yard, were afterwards constructed. 
But it had become defaced by time, and perhaps by ill usage ; the in- 
scription had disappeared, and there was even much doubt whether 
the monument reputed to be his was really so. Upon investigation, 
however, the flowers in which his body had been aflectionately em- 
balmed were discovered in the coffin, and thus all uncertainty as to the 



16 HISTORY OF 

Old Testament is in the Hebrew, and the New in the 
Greek language, both fine specimens of early printing, 
has been presented to the College by his descendants, 
and, as a relic of so interesting a man, so mild and for- 
giving a Christian, so learned and so diligent a presi- 
dent, it is one of the most valuable books in the 
Library. 



1654—1672. 

The next president, the Rev. Charles Chauncy, 
came from the town to which Dunster retired, and while 
equally eminent for learning, ability, and conscientious- 
ness, he held opinions so different from those of his 
honored contemporary, on the controverted point of 
the sacrament of baptism, that he was not only willing 
to baptize infants, but thought it necessary to the effi- 
cacy of the rite, that it should be a total immersion, and 
not a mere sprinkling. This was an error on the other 
side of the narrow line in which our fathers walked ; 
and, when Chauncy became president of the College, 
he was required not to preach publicly anything op- 
posed to the received doctrine on this, and on one other 
subject on which he differed from the Massachusetts 
church. He had the idea that the Lord's Supper could 
be rightly administered in the evening only. But this 

spot was removed. A new inscription, prepared by Mr. Charles 
Folsom, the learned superintendent of the Boston Atheneeum, was 
placed upon the repaired monument in 1846. See Appendix. 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 17 

also he was obliged, if not to renounce, at least to con- 
fine to his own breast. He was a Puritan who, in the 
days of Laud, had suffered persecution "for opposing 
the making of a rail ahout the ' communion tdble^^ " in 
the parish church of Ware, of which place he was then 
minister.* He submitted to power, and made a recan- 
tation, for which he never afterwards ceased to re- 
proach himself; and it was not long before he was 
silenced and suspended by Laud, in consequence of 
new recusancy, and betook himself, in 1638, to the 
Colony of Plymouth, to avoid a persecution which he 
could neither endure nor resist. He was there invited 
to assume the labors of the ministry, but declined, on ac- 
count of his peculiar views on the two points above-men- 
tioned, and went to Scituate. Here he was reordained, 
and here he remained till 1654, when, Puritanism being 
in the ascendant in England, he prepared to return to 
his ancient parish of Ware. On his coming to Boston 
to embark, the vacant presidency of Harvard College 
was offered to him, though not without a restriction 
upon publicly declaring his peculiar opinions. He 
accepted the proposition, and was enrolled in the cat- 
alogue of honored and esteemed heads of the Col- 
lege. The temperament which led him first to resist 
oppression, and then to yield to it, — now, to decline 
being silent, and afterwards to consent — was very pecu- 
liar in that age, however common in later days, and 
one would think it little adapted to command the re- 
spect of the unbending fathers of New England. It 
is manifest, however, from every contemporary opinion 

1 See Peirce's History, p. 20, and Quincy's History, vol. i. p. 24. 
2 



^ 



18 HISTORY OF 

of him, that he had their respect, and, notwithstanding 
his comparative infirmity of purpose, that he deserved 
it. He came to New England with a high reputa- 
tion for scholarship, a reputation fully justified by the 
rank he always maintained here, and the success of 
his literary labor in the instruction of the students at 
the College. 

As a divine and a theologian, also, he was highly 
esteemed by those most competent to judge, as well in 
his own as in succeeding times. Cotton Mather, who 
was graduated seven years after the decease of Chauncy, 
and might, therefore, have remembered him, and whose 
father. Increase Mather, was graduated in the early 
part of Chauncy's presidency, passes a warm eulogium 
upon his literary and ministerial character, and speaks 
of the respectful remembrance in which he was held by 
the many worthy men who received their education 
under him. Although he had passed the prime of 
life at the time of his election, being then sixty-five 
years of age, his presidency was prolonged to the term 
of seventeen years, as he continued to labor with un- 
tiring industry till his death in February, 1671-2, in 
the eighty-second year of his age. Peirce copies from 
Mather the following anecdote, which is interesting 
enough to be often repeated. " The Fellows of the 
College once leading this venerable old man to preach 
a sermon on a winter day, they, out of affection to him, 
to discourage him from so difficult an undertaking, told 
him, ' Sir, you'll certainly die in the pulpit;' but he, 
laying hold on what they said, as if they had offered 
the greatest encouragement in the world, pressed the 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 19 

more vigorously through the snow-drift, and said, 
' How glad should I be, if what you say might prove 
true.'"* 

During the term of office of " this venerable old 
man," the only Indian, who ever passed through the 
four years of College life, took his degree. Several 
were induced to attempt the civilizing process of a 
learned education ; and at one time, the " Society for 
Propagating the Gospel in New England and the Parts 
Adjacent " erected a hall for their accommodation, at 
a cost of between =£300 and .£400. The effiDrt was 
soon given up, however, as the Indian constitution was 
found incompatible with those habits which are requi- 
site for literary attainments. Even Caleb Cheeshah- 
teaumuck, as this solitary Indian graduate was eupho- 
niously called, soon died of consumption. The build- 
ing erected for the special accommodation of the na- 
tives was, therefore, appropriated to other purposes, 
and for some time was used as a printing office, which 
gained great renown in its day, and deserves to be 
commemorated in the records of human disinterested- 
ness and perseverance, on account of its connection 
with one extraordinary development of them. If ever 
these qualities were shown, they were conspicuous in 
the life and labors of him who so well earned the hon- 
ors of apostleship, and who has left behind him a name 
illuminated with the undying light of self-sacrificing 
beneficence. It was, perhaps, in the Indian College, 
certainly by the Cambridge press, that John Eliot's In- 
dian Catechism, Testament and Bible were printed, 
' Peirce's History, p. 30. 



20 HISTORY OF 

with several other books prepared for the same purpose, 
by the same indefatigable hand. The whole history of 
this enterprise, of converting the Indians to Christianity, 
is one which, for the honor of human nature, and of 
the religion we profess, should never be suffered to fade 
out of recollection. It is a delightful instance of the 
spirit of charity, the very essence of Christianity, work- 
ing its best effects upon the best minds ; and it is of 
infinite worth, as a proof how entirely independent of 
all those circumstances, which are commonly thought 
to constitute success, is virtuous effort. The Indians 
have perished, the translations are valueless, except as 
literary curiosities ; but the name of John Eliot shall 
be had in everlasting remembrance, and shall shine as 
the stars of the firmament. 

About one half of the graduates under President 
Chauncy became ministers of the gospel, and several 
others held posts of distinction in civil life. Two were 
Chief Justices of the Colony ; one was afterwards Chief 
Justice of the Colony of New York, and successively 
Governor of Massachusetts and of New Hampshire ; 
and three became presidents of Colleges, viz. : two of 
Harvard, and one of Yale. 

The donations to the College, at this period, were nu- 
merous and interesting ; indicating, in various ways, the 
state of the Colony in respect to its resources, the affec- 
tionate regard of the community, and the liberality of 
many persons in England, as well as here, towards this 
school in the wilderness. Two of the most considera- 
ble, which have remained available to the present day, 
are the bequest of Edward Hopkins, of .£500, and the 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 21 

annuity of William Pennoyer, which, at the time, was 
<£34 per annum, and is now about £50. Both of these 
were for the benefit of the indigent ; the former to be 
used for educating boys at the grammar school of the 
town of Cambridge, as well as young men at the Col- 
lege, and the latter for this purpose only. 



1672—1684. 

The first two presidents of the College were edu- 
cated in England; but from 1672 to the present time, 
our Alma Mater has been under the charge of men who 
were her own alumni, who received all their instruc- 
tion from her, and who devoted themselves to repay the 
debt by laboring, in every way, to promote her pros- 
perity. The tender plant was beginning to take root, 
and acquiring some degree of the vigor necessary to 
enable it to contend with the untoward circumstances 
against which it was destined to struggle. This slight 
change in the selection of the president was attended, 
or followed, by a course of events which marks strongly 
the practical persuasion, entertained by the colonists of 
that day, of the future importance of their settlement, 
and of all that belonged to it ; of their conviction that 
a time was coming, when the College would be what it 
could scarcely be considered then, a large and emi- 
nent institution for the instruction of a numerous peo- 
ple. An oflnce in a school for twenty or thirty young 
men, could have been no object for strong compe- 



22 HISTORY OF 

tition, nor the source of any excitement of feeling, un- 
less the day had been anticipated when to have borne 
an early part in conducting it would be recognized 
as a claim to extended reputation, and to the grati- 
tude of unnumbered multitudes ; and this expectation, 
ever present to our fathers, of the future growth of 
their little settlement, must be remembered in account- 
ing for the emulation for the presidency of the College, 
which is sufficiently manifest in the history of the next 
few years. 

In less than twelve years and a half from the death of 
President Chauncy, three persons of distinction began 
and terminated their presidential career. The first of 
these was Leonard Hoar, the earliest graduate of Har- 
vard who received this appointment ; and though not a 
native of the soil, he came to this country in childhood, 
received his education here, and returning to England 
in the time of the Commonwealth, became the regular 
minister of a parish at Wanstead, in Essex. At the 
restoration he was ejected for non-conformity, and, 
hearing of the death of President Chauncy, he came 
again to New England, with the hope of succeeding 
him in office. The government of the Colony sup- 
ported him in his views, and he attained the object of 
his ambition in July, 1672. But, however acceptable 
he may have been to the authorities of the Colony and 
of the College, he seems to have been far less so to 
those over whom he was appointed to act. The stu- 
dents soon began to show symptoms of discontent and 
displeasure, though it cannot be ascertained what was 
the exciting cause of these emotions. It is intimated 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 23 

that the young men were sustained, or encouraged, by- 
some persons of maturity and note in the vicinity ; but 
it is left quite uncertain what was the foundation for 
the rumor, and to what all this uneasiness is to be 
ascribed. One can hardly avoid the suspicion, that 
some part of it must be attributed to a feeling of rivalry ; 
and yet it may easily have been the case that Dr. Hoar 
was one of those not uncommon persons, who, though 
excellent, and even wise, in many relations, have yet 
mistaken their vocation ; and thus that the dissatisfaction 
was justified by his unfitness, in some respect or other, 
for the place he had assumed. In about a year from 
his election no less than four members of the Corpora- 
tion, a body consisting of but seven gentlemen includ- 
ing the president, resigned their places together ; a 
grave act of grave persons, of which the most natural 
explanation is, that there was some substantial cause of 
discontent. Cotton Mather says the students used to 
" tur7i cudweeds and travestie lohatever lie did and said, 
with a design to make him odious,'^'' — a design in which 
they appear to have succeeded, but which seems 
scarcely compatible with our idea of the Puritan youth 
of Massachusetts in the seventeenth century. 

President Hoar was the first of the heads of Harvard 
College who belonged to the medical as well as to the 
clerical profession. He obtained a diploma as Doctor 
of Medicine from the University of Cambridge, while 
in England, though there is no information of his hav- 
ing practised that profession. He retained his office till 
March, 1675, and after his resignation he lived but 
seven months, dying, as President Quincy says, in ob- 
scurity and sorrow. 



24 HISTORY OF 

The Rev. Urian Oakes, the minister of Cambridge, 
was his successor, as president pro tempore^ retaining 
his position as pastor of the church. He, too, was born 
in England, but, coming over in childhood, he was ed- 
ucated at Harvard College, and then went to England, 
where, like Hoar, he was regularly settled ; and, hav- 
ing returned to this country, with so many others of the 
non-conformists, he became, in the first place, minister 
of Cambridge, and then president of the College. He 
officiated, for five years, as a merely temporary occupant 
of the chair, and was not formally installed till Febru- 
ary, 1680. He is believed to have countenanced those 
who expressed their dissatisfaction with his predecessor ; 
and he certainly resigned his seat in the Corporation 
within a year after Hoar's appointment. The most 
reasonable, as well as the most charitable, construction 
of his conduct is, that the complaints against the late 
president were not without some just foundation ; for 
Oakes has left behind him the reputation of having 
been " a man of bright parts, extensive learning, and 
exalted piety," ' — a reputation clearly inconsistent with 
any factious conduct, or personal jealousy. The eu- 
logy on his tomb-stone in Cambridge church-yard, so 
far as it may be allowed any weight, confirms the idea 
of his being guiltless of all fault in this or any other 
matter.' He died in July, 1681, and was succeeded 
by his classmate, John Rogers, a graduate of 1649. 

This gentleman was the son of the Rev. Nathaniel 
Rogers, of Ipswich ; and had applied himself first to 
the study of theology, and afterwards to that of medi- 
* Peirce's History, p. 45. 2 gee Appendix, 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 25 

cine. He continued in office for two years only, which 
may account for his having made no very permanent 
impression on tiie College in any way, though he was 
highly esteemed for his abilities and acquisition's, and 
greatly loved for the amiableness of his temper. He 
had been chosen during the pro tempore occupancy of 
Oakes, but declined assuming the post at that time ; and 
thus lost the opportunity of exerting a longer, and 
therefore more efficient, influence by the many virtues 
he possessed. President Rogers may be considered as 
the first layman who held the office of president of the 
College ; for though he preached for a time, he was 
never regularly ordained, or settled over a parish. 

During the twelve years in which there was such 
a rapid succession of presidents of the College, dona- 
tions for its support continued to flow from both public 
and private bounty, as they had done before, and even 
with a stronger current. The legislature, or " the 
Court," as it was called, contributed to the maintenance 
of the pi'esident, and individuals here and in England 
gave largely both in money and in books. There was 
a voluntary contribution from many of the towns in the 
colony, for a new edifice, to the amount of .£2,200 
currency ; Dr. John Lightfoot and Dr. Theophilus Gale 
gave their entire libraries ; Sir John Maynard gave 
books to the estimated value of £400, and Joseph 
Brown to the value of £100 ; Sir Matthew Holworthy 
sent no less than £1000 in money, and Henry Ash- 
worth, and Nathaniel Houlton (or Hulton) of London, 
£100 each.* The hearts of our fathers must have 

' For other donations at this period see Appendix. 



26 



HISTORY OF 



been gladdened by such frequent and beneficial remem- 
brance of them, such sympathy with their situation, and 
such aid to their efforts. 



1685—1701. 

We have now reached a period of great importance 
in the history of the Colony, and of much interest in 
that of the College ; though, as the attention given to 
the latter, by its president, was quite sub(jrdinate to that 
which he bestowed on other employments, its progress 
cannot be ascribed so much to his efforts as might oth- 
erwise have been the case. Increase Mather, the next 
president, was a man of strong character, extensive 
and various acquisitions, and of very uncommon per- 
sonal influence. He lived at a critical period in the 
history of the Colony, when, from the increase of num- 
bers and resources, and the progress of ideas, the mode 
of government which had hitherto been maintained 
here was to be essentially modified ; the ecclesiastical 
character of the commonwealth was to be radically 
changed, and the separation of church and state into 
distinct spheres of action, towards which there had been 
a tendency for some time, was to be fully accomplished. 
Some of the last steps in the completion of this revolu- 
tion were destined to be taken by the very man who, 
in his day, wielded more of ecclesiastical influence than 
any other person, and was better fitted to be the repre- 
sentative of the ruling elders, pastors, and teachers of a 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 27 

preceding generation than any other individual among 
his contemporaries. He was the first of the presidents 
who was born on this side of the Atlantic, and was a 
striking specimen of the peculiar talents and character- 
istics of the Puritan of New England, combining the 
knowledge which is power, with the disposition to use 
it, uprightness with shrewdness, and the wisdom which 
leads to preparation for another world, with that which 
secures the advantages of this. He was the minister of 
the North Church in Boston, and was eminently suc- 
cessful as a preacher ; while his attainments in the 
theology, the literature, and the science of the day 
gave him a high rank among the most prominent men 
of his time ; and his activity and energy of character 
produced in him what the apostle Eliot called " a lead- 
ing spirit." Such he undoubtedly possessed ; for he ap- 
pears to have claimed, and taken, the lead in all affairs 
relating to the church, the state, and the college. His 
ambition, if not excessive, was certainly great, and his 
talents and character enabled him to secure those posi- 
tions and that influence which are supposed to be the 
appropriate gratifications of ambition. There is room, 
however, to suspect that the question, often suggested 
to the most successful, would have been not altogether 
inappropriate to him, " What fruit have ye of those 
things ?" 

The biography of Increase Mather is almost the his- 
tory of the colony during his time, and is interesting 
and instructive, though of less importance in its connec- 
tion with the College than in its relation to the commu- 
nity at large. He continued to be the pastor of the 



28 HISTORY OF 

North Church, and, in 1688, he accepted a mission to 
England, which necessarily took him away from both 
the church and the college for several years ; and thus 
he was priest, politician, and president at once, though 
it was impossible for him to perform the duties of more 
than one of these characters at a time. He was sent to 
England, as one of the agents of the colony, with the 
especial object of securing the charter from the assaults 
which had been made upon it by Charles 2d, and An- 
dres, and thus of rendering it the permanent inherit- 
ance of Massachusetts, and the perpetual Palladium of 
her rights ; and it is not a little singular that a man of 
precisely his character, despatched on just such a mis- 
sion, should have returned, not only without any con- 
firmation of the former charter, but with a new instru- 
ment, that granted by William and Mary in 1692, 
which speedily, and effectually, and forever destroyed 
the predominance of the church over the state. Still 
more extraordinary is it that he should have been 
known to have been the principal author of the new 
charter, and yet should have retained his great influ- 
ence, and used it successfully in bringing about the 
peaceful introduction of a new organization of society. 
From that time freeholders, and not church members 
only, had a voice in the public councils ; and the church 
of which he was a proud and honored leader, was cur- 
tailed of that power which she had exercised for sixty 
years in "the Bay." This was not the only essential 
modification of the rights enjoyed under the former 
charter. The appointment of- the governor, judges, 
and military officers of the colony was given to the 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 29 

king, who had never before exercised any such power; 
the colonies of Plymouth and Maine were united to 
Massachusetts, and New Hampshire was separated 
from it. The influence which Mather effectually ex- 
erted, in reconciling the people to all these vast changes, 
can be attributed only to the general conviction of his 
integrity, and of his ability to obtain for them all that 
could be secured by any one. 

The narrative of his life and labors is extremely well 
given by President Quincy, in his History of the Col- 
lege, and is a valuable contribution to the history of 
the country ; but, as it has more relation, in fact, to the 
colony, than to the institution over which he presided, it 
may be sufficient to refer the reader to the above-men- 
tioned excellent account. Engaged, as he was, with 
his church and the colony, Mather never devoted his 
whole energy to the improvement of the College, but 
simply gave it what attention he could spare from other 
matters. He never would reside at Cambridge, though 
repeatedly required to do so by the Corporation. He 
complied at one time, but, after a few weeks, returned 
to Boston, and continued there, with the exception of 
his residence in England, till his resignation. The 
only probable solution of this submission of the College 
authority to his convenience is, that the partial attend- 
ance of the president on the instruction and government 
of the school was, really, well and sufficiently made up 
by the two officers who, with the title of tutors, had the 
principal charge of the house. Mr. John Leverett and 
Mr. William Brattle were these successful young men. 
The former became afterwards eminent in various 



30 HISTORY OF 

offices in the province, especially as president of the 
College ; and the latter was for twenty years the min- 
ister of the church in Cambridge, for several years a 
member of the Corporation, and, for a little while, the 
treasurer. This last office he held only as the execu- 
tor of his brother, Thomas Brattle, who had previously 
filled it for the long term of twenty years. 

The constitution of the College seems to have been 
a favorite subject of management, in political circles, 
during the time of Increase Mather. No less than 
three diffijrent charters were proposed in the years 
1696, 1697, and 1699 respectively, which would have 
essentially changed the organization of the College, but 
which did not go into permanent operation, though they 
passed both branches of the legislature, for want of the 
executive or royal sanction. In 1700, anew draft of a 
charter was prepared " to be solicited for to his Majes- 
ty." But this also failed, and the charter of 1650, 
obtained by Dunster, remains as the venerable source 
of collegiate authority to this day. President Quincy's 
account of the intrigues of those times should be read, 
as a valuable contribution to the political and ecclesias- 
tical history of the Commonwealth ; and it will amply 
repay perusal, fot it is written with the sagacity of one 
who understands the artful manoeuvres of others, with- 
out the disposition to imitate them, and with the fear- 
lessless which characterizes intelligent honesty. 

Donations received both from " the Court," and 
from individuals in the colony and in England, contin- 
ued to sustain the still feeble seminary. It may be ob- 
served, however, that the public allowance to the pres- 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 31 

ident was materially smaller than it had been at many- 
periods before ; the worthy members of the great as- 
sembly probably thinking that pluralities were as little 
desirable here as in the mother country, and that they 
should not give full pay without a full equivalent in 
time and labor. Of the private donations the largest 
was that of Governor Stoughton, who erected a build- 
ing for the use of the students, at the cost of c£ 1000, — 
a very noble gift in the condition of the colony at the 
time. But the most memorable bounty, not from its 
amount — though that was not inconsiderable — but from 
the consequences which followed it, was the bequest of 
Robert Thorner, of London, who left ^£"500 to Harvard 
College. This was not only in itself a valuable aid, 
but it led others to know and to assist, to a far greater 
extent, an institution which was deemed worthy of his 
attention and favor. 

The constant benefits wjiich, from the foundation 
of the College to a period long subsequent to the 
revolutionary war, have been received from Eng- 
land, and which, indeed, have not been unknown 
in our own day, are singularly honorable to the phi- 
lanthropy, and expansion of views, which must have 
characterized our benefactors. It is natural enough 
that natives and inhabitants of New England should 
feel so deep an interest in the school, as to lead them to 
contribute to its support ; but the aid which has been 
received from England cannot fail to be regarded as 
exhibiting a still loftier and more disinterested love of 
the learning, religion, and freedom which have been 
cultivated here, and which were anxiously looked for 
from what was once a remote outpost of civilization. 



32 HISTORY OF 

Though the pecuniary resources of the College were 
thus increasing, by the liberality of persons at home and 
abroad, yet the actual narrowness of its means may be 
exemplified by the following extract from the records : 
" At a meeting of the Corporation at Harvard College, 
April 8, 1695, Voted, That six leather chairs be forth- 
with provided for the use of the library, and six more 
before the commencement, in case the treasury will 
allow of it.'''' 

The position of the institution may be inferred to 
have been both eminent and useful, from the increased 
numbers found upon the catalogue of graduates, and 
from the honorable distinction attained, in afterlife, by 
many whose names are there recorded. During the 
period of Mather's presidency and influence, including 
three years after his resignation, there were educated 
at Cambridge not a few persons who afterwards held 
prominent offices, viz., two who became chief justices, 
and five others who were judges of the Supreme Court 
of Massachusetts, three judges of the Supreme Court of 
Connecticut, and two of that of New Hampshire, two 
governors, and two lieutenant-governors of provinces, 
one president of Harvard, and one of Yale, College. Be- 
sides" these, one hundred and thirteen ministers were 
prepared for the pulpits of New England ; and thus it 
appears that large provision was made here for the 
support both of the law and the gospel. 

As a slight indication of the College manners of that 
day, it may not be amiss to make the following extract 
from the records of the Corporation, under the date of 
June 22, 1693 : " The Corporation having been informed 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 33 

that the custom taken up in the College, not used in any- 
other Universities, for the commencers [graduating 
class] to have plumb-cake, is dishonorable to the Col- 
lege, not grateful to wise men, and chargeable to the 
parents of the commencers, do therefore put an end to 
that custom, and do hereby order that no commencer, 
or other scholar, shall have any such cakes in their 
studies or chambers ; and that if any scholar shall oifend 
therein, the cakes shall be taken from him, and he shall 
moreover pay to the College twenty shillings for each 
such offence." 

It is not easy to imagine what could have made this 
plum-cake so dangerous and disreputable. But for 
whatever reason, whether for its accompaniments, or 
simply because it was forbidden, it seems to have been 
a favorite article with the commencers ; for there are, 
in the records, repeated renewals of the prohibition, 
which indicate repeated breaches of the law. Com- 
mencement day seems to have begun, about this time, 
to become a sort of Saturnalia for the whole neighbor- 
hood ; at least, not long after this date, we find men- 
tion of new precautions for the preservation of order, 
such as procuring the attendance of justices of the 
peace, a police guard by day, and a watch by night, for 
several days and nights together ; — pretty clear indi- 
cations of new manners in the land of the Pilgrims, 
The spirit of license, on these occasions, went on increas- 
ing, down to the early part of the present century, 
when it seemed somewhat to subside, perhaps because 
the interest of the day was superseded by that of other 
3 



34 HISTORY OF 

festivals ; and it was, at length, entirely quelled by the 
great reform of modern days — the temperance reform. 
Justices and sheriffs are no longer required to exercise 
their functions, and the most important duty of the con- 
stable is to check the inconvenient rush of the crowd at 
the church door. 



1701 — 1707. 

The few next succeeding years glided on in great 
quietness, the College being under the direction of the 
Rev. Samuel Willard minister of the Old South Church 
in Boston, who succeeded to the powers and duties, 
though not to the title, of president. As the govern- 
ment at length positively required that the president 
should reside at Cambridge, Mr. Willard, desirous of 
retaining his connexion with his church, and his resi- 
dence in Boston, was never inaugurated, but exercised 
the functions of president under the title of vice-presi- 
dent. Thus were the requisitions of the government 
evaded, and the real good of the College postponed to 
the convenience of its head for six years more. Mr. 
Willard, however, seems to have satisfied the demands 
of the public in the office, as there was a general ac- 
quiescence in the arrangement, both by the other offi- 
cers of the College, and by the legislature of the pro- 
vince. He was a man of distinguished ability, and a 
divine of extensive learning, and uncommon powers of 
elocution 5 while the modesty and courtesy of his de- 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 35 

meaner conciliated esteem and affection, as much as 
his talents and acquirements commanded respect. 

An extraordinary proof of his reputation is afforded 
by the fact that his " Compleat Body of Divinity," in 
nine hundred pages folio, was first published in 1726, 
nineteen years after his death, being the first folio volume 
issued from the New England press. It may be ques- 
tioned if any parallel to this can be found in the history 
of theology. Great, however, as was the reputation of 
vice-president Willard with those of his own time, 
nothing especially worthy of note occurred in the his- 
tory of the College, during the period in which he occu- 
pied the first seat in its government. The number of 
students remained about the same, liberality towards 
the school continued to show itself, and the education 
of the young men was largely directed, perhaps a little 
more so than usual, towards preparation for the minis- 
try of the gospel. 



1707 — 1725, 

The presidency of John Leverett is one of the most 
interesting periods in the history of Harvard College, 
and was distinguished by the ability and success with 
which he conducted its administration, and by the 
importance of the events which occurred during his 
term. Some of these events indicated the singular 
favor with which the institution was regarded by indi- 
viduals at home and abroad, and were attended with 



36 HISTORY OP 

a large increase of its usefulness at the time, and 
of its permanent means of future usefulness. Others 
seemed to show an opposite feeling, a great and active 
discontent with the organization of the College, and a 
wish to place it under different influences. The singu- 
lar fitness of Leverett for the office of president will be 
evident to all observers from the success which reward- 
ed his labors — a success which might have been antici- 
pated by those who were acquainted with his character, 
and with the circumstances of his life which contributed 
to prepare him for the station. He had been connected, 
personally, with the College for a long term of years, 
as a student, a tutor, and a member of the Corporation. 
He was a layman, yet had studied theology enough 
to entitle him to receive the degree of bachelor of 
divinity, and to qualify him to preach, which he did 
for a short period. President Leverett was also a 
scholar, a man of science, and a man of affairs, and 
acquaintance with the world, having practised in the 
courts of law, having been speaker of the House of 
Representatives, a member of the Council, and Judge 
of Probate, and finally having had a seat on the 
bench of the Supreme Court; all of which offices 
are well adapted to give practical knowledge, if it be 
not already possessed. He was one of the first persons 
in America who were chosen members of the Royal 
Society in England — an honor which, as it has been but 
rarely conferred, may be presumed to indicate a very 
high contemporary reputation. We have no means of 
judging directly of his literary and scientific attainments, 
as he has left no works behind him which may be com- 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 37 

pared with those of others in his day ; but he may be 
estimated justly by what he accomplished, and by the 
respect and affection he inspired. Mr. Peirce says of 
him,^ " He had a ' great and generous soul.' His nat- 
ural abilities were of a very high order. His attain- 
ments were profound and extensive. He was well 
acquainted with the learned languages, with the arts 
and sciences, with history, philosophy, law, divhiity, 
politics ; and such was his reputation for knowledge of 
men and things, that ' in almost every doubtful and 
difficult case,' he was resorted to for information and 
advice He possessed all those attrac- 
tions which are conferred by the graces ; being from 
the sphere in which he always moved, a gentleman, as 
well as a scholar and a man of business." 

One of the effects of the devotion of this eminent 
man to the education of young persons at Cambridge 
was the increase of the number of those who resorted 
to Harvard College for instruction. Notwithstanding 
the recent establishment of Yale College, which would 
naturally withdraw those who would otherwise have 
resorted to us from the sister province, the average 
number in the classes was more than doubled in Pres- 
ident Leverett's time ; and, indeed, it reached a point 
that was not greatly surpassed for more than half a 
century. It was a period, too, of financial embarrass- 
ment, and even of distress ; so that the growth of the 
College must have been in spite of many adverse cir; 
cumstances. Nor was there any decline as to the 
character and high position attained, in after life, by the 

» Peirce's History, pp. 122-3. 



SS HISTORY OF 

young men who were led to Caunbridge by his influ- 
ence, and were educated under his care. Three of the 
graduates between 1706 and 1728, were afterwards 
governors, and two of them were lieutenant-governors 
of provinces, two were judges, and five others chief 
justices of the Supreme Courts of different provinces, 
one was rector of Yale, and two became professors in 
Harvard College ; and of the whole number, 449, 
there were 207 that became ministers of the gospel, 
the renown of some of whom has descended to our day. 

The legislature were so well pleased with the ap- 
pointment of President Leverett, that they raised the 
usual annual grant from ,£50 or £60, which had been 
given respectively to vice-president Willard, and Presi- 
dent Mather, to £150, which had been sometimes 
granted to their predecessors. Individuals also gave, at 
various times, considerable sums in furtherance of the 
high object sought at Cambridge, and in aid of the 
efforts of the president and other officers of the Col- 
lege. 

But the grand event of the period, — that which, 
from the generous and elevated character displayed in 
it, and the important permanent consequences that have 
flowed from it, has excited and must always continue 
to excite, the deepest sentiments of gratitude and respect, 
in all who can sympathize with noble impulses, — was 
the establishment of two professorships, the one of 
Divinity, the other of Mathematics, by an individual 
who had no other inducement to this liberality than phi- 
lanthropy, in its widest and highest meaning; — the 
love of his fellow men, and the desire to promote their 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 39 

improvement by the cultivation of their understandings 
and their hearts, by showing them truth and duty, and 
persuading them to seek the one and perform the other. 
The reason for his selection of Harvard College, as the 
recipient of his bounty, was, in part, the love of civil 
and religious liberty, which burned in his heart with 
peculiar intensity, and which he believed to be illus- 
trated by the history of Massachusetts and of her 
College ; and, in part, his having become particularly 
acquainted with the institution through his uncle, Rob- 
ert Thorner, whose executor he was, and his having 
seen much of President Mather in London. But, 
from whatever cause his attachment arose, nothing 
could exceed the constancy with which he adhered to 
it when formed, or the kindness which he seems to 
have transmitted to his heirs and successors, so that the 
name of Hollis is enshrined in the memory of the 
alumni as scarcely less sacred than that of Harvard 
himself. His first donation was made in 1719, and 
consisted of goods to the value* of .£104. 4. 7. This 
was followed by several others of the same sort, and 
by presents of books, within a short time. He then 
sent over funds for ten scholarships, or for supplying 
ten indigent students with the sum of =£10 per annum, 
each ; and in 1722 he founded a Professorship of Di- 
vinity, with a salary of c£80. His donations of books 
and other articles were very frequent afterwards ; and 
it appears by a record of the Corporation, dated Sep- 
tember 23, 1725, that he had, at that time, given to the 

^ These goods were sold here for £300 currency ; and at that period 
tliis was equal to about £150 sterling. 



40 HISTORY OF 

College what was valued at i^3670. 13. 0^. It was 
subsequently to this date that he established the Profes- 
sorship of Mathematics ; so that his donations must, in 
the whole, have reached nearly ^6000, including large 
numbers of books, together with types and other arti- 
cles. The loss of the College books of account for 
this period has rendered it difficult to verify the dates 
and amounts of his several donations, and to ascertain 
with precision their entire sum ; but there are memo- 
randa and letters preserved, which fully confirm the 
estimate given above, and would perhaps justify a 
higher one. A remarkable circumstance attending 
his bounty, a circumstance as unusual as it is indica- 
tive of wisdom, is, that he gave all this, not by a will, 
to be carried into eifect after his death, but that he 
stretched forth his living hand, and showered down 
abundant blessings without delay. He was thus enabled 
to see that his intentions were executed at once, and 
that arrangements were made on his own plan, at least 
in the beginning. At the same time, he was by no 
means wedded to a precise and narrow scheme ; for 
the generosity with which he bestowed his wealth was 
only the overflow of that liberal spirit which was his 
characteristic in all things, and which was as rare in 
that age as it is honorable in all ages. He was a Bap- 
tist, and yet he laid the foundation for a theological 
professorship in an institution which he knew had 
always considered and treated his opinion on the sub- 
ject of baptism as a pestilent heresy ; whose first presi- 
dent had been deposed, and " indicted by the grand 
jury," for questioning the divine right of infant baptism ; 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 41 

and to which he was reluctant to send his portrait, when 
asked to do so, lest it should be obnoxious to some 
whom he desired to benefit. On other points he was 
accounted orthodox, yet so little important did he deem 
it that all men should think as he did, upon dogmas 
which have been for ages under discussion, that, in 
preparing the rules for his professorship, he required 
no subscription to a creed, nor any other confession of 
faith than " that the Scriptures of the Old and New 
Testament are the only perfect rule of faith and prac- 
tice." It was indeed " recommended to the electors, 
that at every choice they should prefer a man of sound 
and orthodox principles, one well gifted to teach ; of a 
sober and pious life, and of a grave conversation." It 
is at once obvious, that a recommendation is not a 
rule ; and the inference is irresistible, that, in deliber- 
ating upon this important instrument, he refused to 
insert a rule comprehending all these particulars. It 
is evident from President Quincy's account,' that the 
words "of sound and orthodox principles," were not 
the words of Hollis ; and even if they had been so, 
that the orthodoxy which he would desire was not 
that which would be insisted on here, is shown as 
conclusively as can be required, by the fact that he 
himself was not orthodox in that sense ; by the fact 
that he expressly and particularly desired that being 
a Baptist might not operate to the exclusion of a can- 
didate for his professorship ; and by the fact that he 
himself inserted into his rules the words requiring that 
belief in the Scriptures, and that nothing else in the 
' Quincy's History, vol. i. pp. 248-9. 



42 



HISTORY OF 



shape of creed, or confession of faith, was ever to be 
demanded of his professor.^ It is impossible that Chris- 
tian liberality should go farther ; and one cannot but 
look with surprise, as well as respect, upon a man who, 
in that age, could escape the contagion of bigotry, 
which had been propagated by descent, and strength- 
ened by example, in almost every sect of Christendom. 
That it was a degree of freedom from mental chains 
far beyond that to which our New England fathers had 
then generally attained is shown, by the long continued 
system of management to place the professorship of 
Divinity " under proper regulations," to use the lan- 
guage of the overseers, and is illustrated by the follow- 
ing extract from Judge SewalPs Diary. " January 10th, 
1721. Overseers of the College met at the Council 
Chamber, to consider Mr. Hollis's proposals as to his 

' A year or two before this time Mollis had been a member of 
a meeting of Dissenting clergymen and others, held for devising 
means of promoting peace in a controversy w^hich had arisen re- 
specting the doctrine of the Trinity in some of the churches of the 
West of England. He was a member of a committee of this assem- 
bly that prepared " a paper of advices," with the design of healing the 
breaches that had been made. The object of the paper was to dis- 
countenance creeds expressed in words difiering from the language of 
Scripture. It was proposed by some members of the assembly to 
annex to this a declaration of their own faith in the Trinity, but this 
was opposed on the ground that it would have the eflect of making 
the doctrine a test question, and, in reality, of requiring a declaration 
of faith, if they themselves thought it necessary to make one. The 
proposition was rejected by a vote of fifty-seven to fifty-three, and 
Mollis "rejoiced" at this result. Thus he gave the most decisive 
evidence of his freedom from any wish to make his own belief the 
standard of orthodoxy, as there is no doubt of his faith in the doctrine 
in question. See " Letter to Gov. Lincoln in relation to Marvard Uni- 
versity, by F. C. Gray," 2d ed., p: 21-Q. 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 43 

Professor of Divinity. Debate was had in the forenoon 
about the article ' He shall be a master of arts, and in 
communion with a church of the Congregationalists, 
Presbyterians, or Baptists.' I objected against that arti- 
cle, as choosing rather to lose the donation than accept 
it. In the afternoon I said, ' One great end for which 
the planters came over into New England was to fly 
from the cross in baptism. For my part, I had rather 
have baptism administered with the incumbrance of the 
cross, than not to have it administered at all. This 
qualification of the Divinity professor is to me a bribe 
to give my sentence in disparagement of infant bap- 
tism, and I will endeavor to shake my hands from hold- 
ing it." 1 

In later times the orthodoxy of New England has 
had opponents to contend with that were not then 
known ; but it cannot be plausibly urged that the man, 
who was deemed heretical himself, should have been 
willing to clothe the presbytery, or the congregation, 
with power which he did not assume in establishing his 
own professorship. Certain it is, that he never re- 
quired conformity to his own peculiar views of Scrip- 
ture truth ; and it is clear that he did not design to per- 
mit others to prescribe their peculiarities ; so that the 
only way in which the trust can be administered in the 
spirit of Mollis, is that it be administered in the spirit 
of charity and freedom. 

The other great benefaction of Hollis, the establish- 
ment of a professorship of Mathematics and Natural 
Philosophy, was made a few years later. He proposed 
1 Quincy's History, vol. i. p. 251. 



44 HISTORY OF 

it in 1726, and the first professor was chosen in May, 
1727. Besides these large donations from his own 
resources, he frequently obtained the assistance of his 
friends and family, to whom he had imparted a portion 
of his own interest in our College ; so that he was not 
only generous himself, but the cause of generosity in 
others. It is proper to record of him, that he was a 
successful merchant ; and perhaps the surviving influ- 
ence of his example may be perceived in the great 
liberality, which has, in later times, been shown to the 
College by the successful merchants of Boston, who 
have made it their pride to prove themselves emulous 
of the munificent Hollis. 

The following sentences are from the discourse be- 
fore the Governor and the General Court, on the death 
of Hollis, by his friend and correspondent, Dr. Benja- 
min Colman, April, 1731 : 

" Mr. Hollis merits to be named among great men, 
and to stand before kings. The honors which the Gen- 
eral Court have again and again done to his name and 
memory are pillars of gratitude for future generations 
to look on with great veneration. That which is sin- 
gular in -the piety and benefits of Mr. Hollis to these 
churches was, that, though he was not strictly of our 
way, nor in judgment with us on the point of infant bap- 
tism, yet his heart and hand were the same to us as if 
we had been one in opinion and practice with him ; 
and in this let him stand a teaching pattern and exam- 
ple to us of a noble. Christian, catholic and apostolic 
spirit of love, which makes those that differ in lesser 
matters to receive one another to the glory of God, and 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 45 

a shining testimony against a narrow party spirit, which 
is too much the disgrace and detriment of the Protest- 
ant interest. 

" To the honor of my country I must add that it was 
some account Mr. Hollis received from us, of the free 
and catholic air we breathe at our Cambridge, where 
Protestants of every denomination may have their 
children educated and graduated at our College, if they 
behave with sobriety and virtue, that took his generous 
heart and fixed it on us, and enlarged it to us ; and 
this shall be with me among his distinguishing praises, 
while we rise up and bless his memory." 

We must now turn to events of a different character, 
circumstances which gave much anxious labor to Presi- 
dent Leverett and the members of the Corporation, and 
attracted the active interest of the whole province. A 
controversy arose as to the true tenure of a seat in the 
Corporation ; whether it should be occupied by resi- 
dent instructors only ; or whether, as then was and 
had long been the case, others, who were neither resi- 
dents nor instructors, might properly be members of 
the board. It is for many reasons to be regretted that 
such a discussion should ever have occurred ; and still 
more to be lamented that it should have been repeated 
at the distance of a century ; especially because, in 
both instances, there was a good deal of bitter conten- 
tion, and a manifestation of irritability in the parties, 
arising from the blindness of opponents to that which 
seemed perfectly apparent to the advocates. This, cer- 
tainly, is not unknown, perhaps not unusual, in contro- 
versies between the best and wisest men, when they feel 



46 HISTORY OF 

themselves either oppressed, or unjustly assailed ; and 
the frequency of its occurrence makes it not the less, 
but the more, painful. It is not worth the while, nor is 
it practicable, in this brief compend, to go much into 
the details of this twice-fought battle. It will be suffi- 
cient to state the general grounds taken on each side, 
and the manner in which the question was, in both 
cases, settled, as well by the silent judgment of the 
public, as by the positive decision of votes of the Over- 
seers, or of the legislature. 

At both periods probably, at the later one certainly, 
great reliance was placed, by those who claimed a 
majority of seats in the Corporation,' on the technical 
and collegiate meaning of the word " fellows," as used 
in England, and in the Charter of the College ; and it 
was proved to have the signification of instructors, and 
resident instructors. It was contended also, that dona- 
tions were made to those who held such offices in the 
College, by that title, and for the reason that they per- 
formed the duties implied in it ; and thus the contem- 
porary signification of the word, as used and generally 
understood in this country, at the time of the incorpo- 
ration of the College, was unequivocally shown ; and 
if such were the first fellows, such, it was said, should 
have been all, or at least a majority of their successors. 

On the other hand, it was contended that, though the 
word " fellows " included in its meaning the officers re- 

1 The arguments used in the discussion, in President Leverelt's time, 
by the claimants of seats in the Corporation have not been well pre- 
served ; but much may be inferred from the replies of their opponents, 
which have been transmitted to our day. 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 47 

ferred to, yet it meant many other descriptions of persons 
also ; and that even students, undergraduates, were quite 
as much " fellows," in one very common sense of the 
word, as the instructing officers ; and that this was as 
well known here as in England, at that time, was proved 
by donations made to the College for the benefit of 
" fellows," who were then understood, and have been 
always understood, to be students, and the income has 
accordingly been appropriated to their use ever since 
the funds were given. Another meaning of the word, 
as common then as now, and known as long as the 
English language has been known, is precisely equiva- 
lent to the meaning of the Latin word of which it is a 
translation, and simply designates an associate, or mem- 
ber of a society for whatever purpose. Any one, 
therefore, who is chosen a member of the Corporation, 
becomes, from that fact, a " fellow " of the College, in 
the sense of the charter, whether interpreted with legal 
strictness or otherwise. In short, it was urged that the 
word had too many acknowledged meanings to be tied 
down to one exclusive signification. With regard to 
residence at Cambridge, it was shown that one of the gen- 
tlemen named in the Charter a " fellow," was, within 
a few months afterwards, settled as the minister of Rox- 
bury ; to which place he, of course, removed, but did 
not thereby lose his seat at the board. This was con- 
sidered a contemporaneous commentary on the charter. 
The singular disproportion in such an apparatus of 
teachers, consisting of a board of seven persons, of 
whom at least six were to be instructors, when the 
number of students averaged less than thirty, for many 



48 HISTORY OF 

years, could not be overlooked. To have such a super- 
fluity of masters, in the midst of so great a scarcity of 
everything else, could hardly be deemed consistent 
with the economy which poverty rendered necessaiy in 
those early days. 

Arguments from justice and expediency were also 
urged by both parties. On the one side it was con- 
tended that justice required that those who were per- 
sonally, deeply, and exclusively devoted to the govern- 
ment and instruction of the students, should be in all 
things, and should be recognized to be, the efficient and 
real heads of the College ; while it was also expedient, 
as a stimulus to exertion, that those whose reputation 
was most nearly concerned in the success of the insti- 
tution, and who would therefore be under the influence 
of the strongest motives to promote its prosperity, 
should have the unrestrained power to do so, in any way 
which they judged best — an argument which would be 
much strengthened by the consideration of the inexpe- 
diency of allowing all such measures to be controlled 
by gentlemen actively engaged in other pursuits, and 
who were neither resident in Cambridge, nor person- 
ally acquainted with the peculiar business of the Col- 
lege. 

On the other side it was said, that justice to the com- 
munity would not permit a permanent institution to be 
so organized as to allow individuals, in successive gen- 
erations, to prescribe their own duties and salaries ; that, 
in the course of time and events, human sel^shness 
and weakness would manifest themselves, as has been 
often the case in similar institutions for public purposes ; 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 49 

and therefore that such an organization would have been 
obviously unsafe. On another ground it was contended, 
that expediency could in no way have sanctioned a sys- 
tem so entirely at variance with the jealous republican- 
ism of the people of the State. It would be sure to 
become obnoxious, even if it did not deserve to be so ; 
while there was, certainly, danger that it would merit the 
odium it might incur. The very fact brought forward 
to show the propriety of constituting the instructors 
alone " fellows," was regarded as decisive against the 
claim. Gentlemen almost exclusively engaged in the 
instruction and discipline of youth are not, usually, in 
the best condition to acquire that experience in affairs, 
and acquaintance with men, which, to say the least, are 
extremely desirable in the management of the exterior 
concerns of a large literary institution. Arrangements 
for instruction must be adapted to the state of the times, 
and to that of the world around, as well as of that 
within, the College walls ; and of this state men: en- 
gaged in the active business of life are likely to be 
better judges than the literary man, and the student. 

However the weight of argument may really incline, 
the fact is certain that this controversy has been twice 
settled, upon considerations like these, substantially in 
the same way, confirming the right, and the propriety, 
of conferring places in the Corporation on gentle- 
men who are not engaged in the instruction of the pu- 
pils, but who gratuitously bestow such an amount of 
attention upon the concerns of the College as their 
other pursuits will permit, and as circumstances require. 
By constituting this board in part of resident instruc- 
4 



50 HISTORY OF 

ters, and in part of non-resident gentlemen, the law, 
the precedents, and the expediency of the case seem 
to be alike satisfied. Just weight is given to the sug- 
gestions of experience in instruction and management ; 
the wants of the public are better known and consid- 
ered than they would be, if studious and retired men 
only were interested in the prosperity of the College ; 
and the purity of both parties is best secured by giving 
the control of the funds to one, and the income of them 
to the other, and by having some persons besides the 
incumbents to prescribe the duties of offices that must 
be sometimes irksome and always laborious. 

It will be regarded as fortunate, by those who hold 
the views which may now be considered as established, 
that the first discussion of this subject arose during the 
official term of President Leverett. His high character, 
and the wide-spread reputation he enjoyed, gave him a 
weight with the community which few of his " fellows " 
have ever enjoyed ; while his personal connection with 
the College, as a student and an officer, ran back 
to within less than forty years from its establishment, 
and within twenty-six from the date of the Charter, 
and might well add authority to his interpretation of 
the instrument, with the comparatively early working 
of which he was practically acquainted. He died in 
May, 1724, a few months only after the settlement of 
this controversy ; and it is no injustice to any of the 
distinguished men who have held the same office, either 
before or after him, to say, that he has not been sur- 
passed in learning, wisdom, and general fitness for the 
place, by the most illustrious of those who have occupied 
the same chair. 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 51 

The later years of his life were rendered uncom- 
fortable, not merely by the controversy which has 
been mentioned, but by unreasonable complaints made 
at the board of Overseers, and in the legislature, 
about the condition of the College in respect to dis- 
cipline and instruction, and by the insufficiency of the 
means contributed by the College, and the legisla- 
ture, for his personal support. His time and talents 
were wholly devoted to the institution ; and it was not 
well that a man so remarkably qualified for the situa- 
tion by knowledge, wisdom, and skill, should be allowed 
to struggle with poverty, and to encounter the ills of 
privation to himself and his family, as well as the una- 
voidable discomforts of the office. The suspicion is 
almost forced upon any one who reflects upon the cir- 
cumstances, independently of any direct testimony, 
that the opposition to Leverett's administration was, to 
some extent, factious, and not well founded in the con- 
dition of the school. This suspicion gains strength 
when we know, as a matter of record, that there were 
some active, influential, and disappointed men, ready 
to seize every opportunity to show how much better 
the College might have stood under other auspices. 

The system of instruction and discipline was then 
essentially different from that which has succeeded it 
in our own day ; but, when we recollect the character, 
and the scholarship, of the men who were formed by it, 
we cannot refuse to acknowledge its efficiency in the 
development of the faculties of the students. The 
brightest scholars of our time might find it unpleasant 
to make, in public, a viva voce translation of a passage 



52 HISTORY OF 

of Scripture from Hebrew into Greek, every day in the 
College chapel, when they could not have time to turn 
to the Septuagint ; and the most docile might now be 
expected to rebel against a daily visit to their chambers 
by a tutor or proctor. Yet such were the requirements, 
a little more than a century ago ; and it will be well if 
the different methods of the present day shall convert 
the ingenuous youth who now inhabit the halls of their 
fathers into men as wise, firm, and virtuous as those 
who rendered illustrious the history of the country, in 
the years preceding the Revolution. 

The spirit of jealousy manifested in the legislature, 
and in the board of Overseers, appeared in the ap- 
pointment of a committee, by the latter body, to 
make a visitation of the College, to investigate the 
causes, and devise a remedy, of the " very bad condi- 
tion " into which it had fallen. No result ever followed 
this measure ; and it must be regarded simply as an 
evidence of the existence, in the minds of some indi- 
viduals, of a disposition to complain, which has not 
been without a parallel at other periods. President 
Quincy is inclined to ascribe this feeling to the religious 
views of the people, which differed, even then, from those 
of some of the College officers ; but Mr. Peirce ascribes 
it more to political influences, and to the democratic 
spirit of the community, with which the governors of 
the seminary were suspected of not sympathizing. 
Perhaps both kinds of prejudice had an influence then, 
as they have often had at other times. In religion, the 
College has been pretty frequently suspected of too 
much liberality, and in politics, of too bigoted a con- 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 53 

servatism. It is a fair presumption that those who are 
accused of faults of an opposite character are not justly 
chargeable with either ; and the friends of the College 
may reasonably aver, that it has been generally in ad- 
vance of the age in the principles and the practice of a 
true Christian charity, while it has often allowed its 
contemporaries to go beyond it in the pursuit of theo- 
ries of political liberty, which are apt to become prac- 
tices of political license. 

The first step, however, which was taken by the 
Corporation, upon the decease of President Leverett, 
was received by the legislature with great favor. The 
Rev. Joseph Sewall, pastor of the Old South Church, 
in Boston, a man in the highest esteem in the religious 
community for the soundness of his orthodoxy, and the 
fervency of his piety, was chosen to fill the vacancy in 
the office of president. His congregation, however, 
refused to give up their claim to his labors, and Dr. 
Sewall declined taking the office, without their consent. 

The next choice fell upon the Rev. Benjamin Col- 
man, pastor of the Brattle Street, or Manifesto Church, 
as it was called, from the particular declaration of rights 
and sentiments made by that church at its organization. 
Dr. Colman was its first pastor, and the acknowledged 
leader of the more liberal party in theology and church 
government. His nomination would have been, there- 
fore, by no means so acceptable to the majority of the 
-legislature as that of Dr. Sewall ; and the Corporation 
endeavored to obtain the usual grant towards the presi- 
dent's salary, before proposing his name. But the 
legislature would grant nothing without knowing the 



54 HISTORY OF 

individual who would receive the salary ; and Dr. Col- 
man would not trust to their making any addition to his 
support, after his appointment. Thus a man of emi- 
nence, and of unquestionable qualification for the office, 
was prevented from assuming its responsibilities. 

The next selection was of a candidate, who, if not 
so high in the esteem of the religious public as Dr. 
Sewall, was by no means liable to the suspicion of he- 
retical tendencies. The Rev. Benjamin Wadsworth 
was pastor of the First Church in Boston, and was 
highly and justly respected for his ability and his attain- 
ments, the unpretending quietness of his manners, and 
the resolution and firmness of his character. Both he 
and Dr. Colman were members of the Corporation at 
the time ; and though this may be considered an ob- 
jection to the choice of either, yet it must be recollected 
that the nature of the office is such that suitable per- 
sons to fill it are not, and never have been, numerous ; 
and every election has shown the difficulty of finding 
candidates whose character fitted them for the station, 
and whose circumstances might induce or permit them 
to accept it. At all events, the election of President 
Wadsworth was not unacceptable either to the public or 
the legislature. The latter immediately granted the 
.£150 which had been allowed to his predecessor, and 
gave, what they had never done before, =£1000 towards 
erecting a house suitable for his residence. Their sat- 
isfaction may, perhaps, be ascribed, in part, to the elec- 
tion of Mr. Nicholas Sever as a member of the Corpo- 
ration, to fill the seat vacated by Mr. Wadsworth. He 
was one of the tutors who had recently claimed admis- 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 55 

sion to the board as a right, on the ground that they 
were the " fellows," intended in the Charter, — a claim 
which seems to have been supported by a large number 
in the popular branch of the legislature ; and, now 
that the claim of right had been defeated, it seemed a 
respectful deference to the known views of an influen- 
tial party, that their candidate should be selected to fill 
a vacancy. Thus, upon the accession of Wadsworth, 
the College was in an unusual degree of favor, notwith- 
standing the recent appointment of a committee of the 
Overseers to inquire into the causes of its reputed " bad 
condition," and to suggest the proper remedy ; and for 
a time the school went on without the frequent ac- 
companiment of contemporary complaint. 



1725—1737. 

However peaceful were the signs of the times when 
Wadsworth was chosen, and however distinguished for 
gentleness, firmness, and good judgment was the char- 
acter of the President, it seems to have been the fate 
of the College to be perpetually the subject, or the occa- 
sion, of controversy. The next discussion affecting its 
interests arose from a source little to have been antici- 
pated, and affords a striking instance of the power of 
the human mind to convince itself of the purity of its 
intentions, and the soundness of its present views. 

" Freedom to worship God " in the manner which 
might seem to themselves most suitable and agreeable. 



56 HISTORY OF 

will, without doubt, be admitted by all to have been one 
of the objects of. primary importance to the colonists 
both of Plymouth and of Massachusetts ; and in con- 
nection with this liberty, freedom from all the princi- 
ples, and from the rule, of episcopacy. It will hardly 
be denied that there was a most hearty aversion, on 
their part, to that form of church government, to the 
ceremonies of its ritual, and to many of the articles of 
its creed, as interpreted by a portion, at least, of its 
members ; nor that this aversion was as cordially re- 
ciprocated by the other parly, whose open contempt 
was somewhat qualified by a secret dread of such stern, 
uncompromising opponents. The whole form and 
order of church government of the two sects, their 
whole habit of thinking and feeling upon religious sub- 
jects, were as far asunder as it would seem possible for 
men professing the same religion to carry them. The 
Puritans abhorred the title of Bishop, and the Episco- 
palians disdained to recognize any such officer as a 
teaching, or ruling, elder. 

While these feelings of mutual dislike were in full 
force, towards the close of the seventeenth century, a 
few feeble attempts were made to establish, in Boston, 
a church on the principles of episcopacy. They met 
with very little favor, but the claims of those associated 
for the purpose were exceedingly bold, in the times 
when Andros, Dudley and Randolph affected to be rep- 
resentatives of an absolute king in New England, and 
subsided again with the renewed security of secular lib- 
erties. But the number of persons attached to the ser- 
vice of the Church of England gradually increased, and 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 57 

in the early part of the eighteenth century an episcopal 
church was permanently established, and shortly after- 
wards a second was added. The King's Chapel and 
Christ's Church were the first assemblies of the Church 
of England in Massachusetts, and were regarded with 
mingled surprise and indignation, by the descendants of 
those who left their homes and came to the wilderness 
for the very purpose, among others, of avoiding the sight 
of the surplice and the mitre, and of being freed from 
the power of bishops and archbishops. 

If the mere existence of the Church of England 
among them produced such a state of apprehensive 
sensibility, what must have been their serious alarm, 
when the Rector (as he was called) of Yale College 
promulgated his distrust of the validity of Presbyterian 
ordination ? A star fell from heaven. There was a 
backward tendency towards the darkness of former 
times ; and apprehension was not confined to the influx 
of strangers, but the defection of those of their own 
household was feared. Dr. Cutler, the bold avower of 
this remarkable change of opinion, came to Boston, the 
air of New Haven being no longer congenial to his 
temperament, and was appointed Rector of Christ's 
Church. It was not long before he and Dr. Miles, of 
the King's Chapel, devised a plan for obtaining admis- 
sion to the Board of Overseers of Harvard College ; 
and in order to reach this exaltation, they humbled them- 
selves so far as to assume a title used, probably, for 
the first and only time, and for this especial purpose, by 
Rectors of the Church of England. They demanded 
to be admitted as " teaching elders" of the town of 



58 HISTORiT OF 

Boston, one of the six towns named in the act of 1642, 
whose teaching elders were to constitute a part of the 
Board of Overseers. That board, however, contained 
too many " strict constructionists " of the act, to admit 
that clergymen of the Church of England could ever 
be the technical teaching elders of the law, or to im- 
agine that such an interpretation could possibly have 
been within the limits of the intention of those who 
founded the College, and who were exiles from all they 
loved at home, for the purpose of expressing their utter 
abhorrence of that very church government. The 
question was argued more than once, and was, on each 
occasion, settled by a decided vote against the appli- 
cants. That it should ever have been raised may well 
be a matter of surprise, to those who are acquainted 
with the haughty contempt of the Church of England 
for Puritans, and who can judge of the probability of 
the success of the demand made, in such a manner, 
upon such a body as the Overseers of Harvard College. 
The remainder of the term of Mr. Wadsworth's 
presidency was a period of comparative peace. At 
least, no distinct controversy arose, and things were 
suffered to go on, in the usual course of academic in- 
struction and discipline. There was, indeed, some 
complaint among the Overseers, of the declining and 
feeble state of the College, in both these essential points 
of education ; but that no prevalent dissatisfaction ex- 
isted may be inferred, not only from the learning, dili- 
gence, perseverance, and ability of President Wads- 
worth, and Professor Wigglesworth (on the Hollis 
foundation of Divinity,) but from the increased liber- 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 59 

ality of the legislature, and the continued and enlarged 
bounty of individuals. The General Court gave about 
:£1700 sterling, and individuals at home and abroad as 
much more, during the twelve years of President Wads- 
worth's continuance in office. These donations were 
not all in money, but consisted, in part, of books, silver 
plate, philosophical apparatus, &c. The largest gift 
was that of Hollis, for his Professorship of Mathematics, 
founded in 1726, for which he appropriated .£1170 
currency, equal to ^390 sterling ; while he procured 
other important donations from his brothers and friends. 
It should not be forgotten, too, that, in this age, as well 
as at other periods, the College was largely indebted to 
the better sex. Mrs. Mary Saltonstall gave what was 
equivalent to about £300 sterling, and Mrs. Anne Mills 
a considerable sum. Other important contributors were 
Mr. John Frizzle, Thomas Fitch, John Ellery, and the 
Rev. John Cotton. President Wadsworth himself left 
a bequest of ^110 currency to the College; though 
this was scarcely necessary to prove his devoted attach- 
ment to the institution. The care and industry with 
which he labored for it are shown by the many and 
important documents in his handwriting preserved in 
the College archives, displaying his constant attention 
to the external, as well as the internal, interests of the 
house ; and by the success of the instruction given in 
his time, and of course, in great part, by his personal 
labor. There was the same succession of men of dis- 
tinction in their after lives, who had received their edu- 
cation during that period, as has been pointed out under 
other heads of the College. There were Judges and 



60 HISTORY OF 

Chief Justices, Governors and Lieutenant-Governors of 
different provinces, three alumni who received degrees 
from foreign academic institutions, viz. : two from Ox- 
ford, and one from Edinburgh ; one member of the 
Royal Society, and one Professor of Mathematics. A 
little more than one third of the whole number of grad- 
uates became ministers of the Gospel, and there are 
many others whose honorable reputation has descended 
to our own day. 



1737—1774. 

The presidency of the successor of Wadsworth, the 
Rev. Edward Holyoke, a minister of Marblehead, was 
memorable as the longest of the whole series ; and al- 
though it was a very successful and prosperous one, yet it 
was marked by the occurrence of many and serious mis- 
fortunes. The first on this catalogue of evils was the 
misconduct of a professor, of so grave a character as to 
require his removal from office. Isaac Greenwood had 
been appointed Hollis Professor of Mathematics, imme- 
diately on the establishment of that foundation ; and, 
notwithstanding some misgivings as to the correctness 
of his deportment, he was accepted by Hollis on the 
nomination of the Corporation. Mr. Greenwood had 
been in England a year or two before, had sought the 
acquaintance of Hollis, and had shown himself well 
qualified, as to all literary and scientific attainments, 
for the post he desired to fill. But the prudent and 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 61 

honorable merchant was displeased by a certain extrav- 
agance in the expenditure of the young man, and some- 
thing more than displeased at his sudden departure, 
without taking leave of him whose patronage he had 
been seeking, and, what was of more consequence, 
without discharging the debts his extravagance had led 
him to incur. Hollis, therefore, wrote to his friends 
in the Corporation, that he should not approve the nom- 
ination unless it were unanimous, which circumstance 
he should regard as indicating the probability of the 
reformation of the candidate. 

For some years the choice of the Corporation seemed 
justified ; but, in 1736, so much scandal was caused by 
the notoriety of the intemperate habits of the professor, 
that he was admonished of the necessity of more self- 
control, if he desired to retain his office. The admo- 
nition was of little avail ; and, in 1738, it became 
necessary to remove him from a position in which his 
example was at once odious and dangerous. His dis- 
missal was rendered inevitable by continued transgres- 
sion, but was accompanied with the forbearance that is 
due to human infirmity. 

It is not a little singular, that the only other similar 
case of dismission from the College, for this offence, 
should have occurred but two or three years afterwards. 
Nathan Prince, a man of sufficient character and attain- 
ments to have been appointed tutor in 1723, during 
the presidency of Leverett, and to have been made a 
member of the Corporation in 1728, began, in 1741, 
to show by his conduct and offensive demeanor that 
he had yielded to the same temptation, and was no 



62 HISTORY OF 

longer a suitable person to be intrusted with the train- 
ing of youth. The proceedings against him originated 
with the Overseers ; and, although this was in violation 
of the practice, and, indeed, of the right, of the Corpo- 
ration to take the initiative in all executive matters, yet, 
as the delinquent was, unhappily, a member of their own 
board, it was both natural and becoming that they 
should allow others to proceed against one who had 
become personally obnoxious to themselves.^ 

' " The Corporation were, apparently, willing to bear the assump- 
tion of the Overseers in order to escape the necessity of silting in 
judgment on a fellow-member. To avoid, however, the efiecl of the 
precedent, they passed, on the 27th of April, 1742, the following votes, 
intended, in the language of Lord Coke, to be " an exclusion of a con- 
clusion : " 

" Whereas the honorable and reverend the Board of Overseers of 
Harvard College did, upon the 18th of February last past, vote the 
removal of Mr. Nathan Prince (one of the Fellows and Tutors of the 
College) from all otRces relating thereto, on account of sundry crimes 
and misdemeanors, whereof he was convicted before them, and which 
he had been charged with at said board by some of the Corporation as 
well as the Tutors of said College, and also did recommend it to the 
Corporation to fill up the vacancies made by said Prince's removal ; 
and although we apprehend that (according to the Charter of said 
Harvard College) aflairs of this nature ought to originate with the 
Corporation, yet, inasmuch as so many of the Corporation have been 
either complainants against the said Prince, or have been aspersed or 
maltreated by him, so that there is not left a majority of said Corpora- 
tion, who may be thought by him or by others, (as we understand) to 
be indiflerent judges in this affair; and inasmuch as we apprehend 
that, under all circumstances, it will not be for the interest and peace 
of the said College that he should continue any longer in ofilce therein ; 
therefore (saving all rights given to the Corporation by their Charter) 
they passed the following votes : 1. That Mr. Joseph Mayhew be a fel- 
low of the Corporation in the room of the said Mr. Prince. 2. That 
Mr. Belcher Hancock be a tutor in the room of said Mr. Prince, and 
that for three years." Qumcy"s History, vol. ii, pp. 35-6. 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 63 

Prince was the brother of the annalist, Thomas 
Prince, and was accounted superior to him, both in abil- 
ities and acquirements ; but his unhappy propensity 
destroyed the value of his talents and learning, and so 
affected his character that he seemed insensible to his 
degradation, and attempted to resist the authority of 
the College. He wrote a pamphlet to show the illegal- 
ity of his dismissal ; and it was not till force was directed 
to be applied, if necessary, for his removal from his 
room in the College, that he yielded the point and re- 
tired. 

Another occurrence, which may be considered a 
misfortune to the President and other officers of the 
Colleg3> at this period, though it left no permanent ill 
effects on the institution, was the influence acquired 
and exerted by Whitefield, and the direct and repeated 
attacks he unscrupulously made upon the religious state 
of the seminaries of New England generally, and of 
Harvard College in particular. The extraordinary 
power of the eloquence of Whitefield over the commu- 
nity, even at the early age when he first preached here, 
has left ineffaceable traces upon the history of the 
country ; as it has affected, in no slight degree, the reli- 
gious manners and habits of the people, from his day to 
our own. That general and violent excitement, com- 
monly called a revival of religion, became frequent 
and prominent as the result of Whitefield's preaching ; ^ 

^ Something of a similar character had been the effect of the 
preaching of Jonathan Edwards, at Northampton, in 1736, four years 
before the visit of Whitefield ; but the consequences produced by the 
latter were far more extensive and violent, and the epoch of his com- 
ing may be fairly, as it is commonly, considered as that of revivals. 



64 HISTORY OF 

and he who by his skill in elocution can so stir the 
hearts of a whole people, and produce permanent influ- 
ences on their character, must be confessed to wield 
great and even formidable power, and to be subject to 
an equally formidable responsibility. 

At the first breaking out of this religious frenzy, it was 
deemed inspiration ; and it was not till the fever of the 
brain had passed off, that it was discovered that the out- 
pouring of the spirit of Whitefield was not always followed 
by the influence of the spirit of holiness. There was no 
suspicion, however, in the beginning, of the want of 
genuineness in any of the " conversions " which w^ere 
so numerous ; and the Overseers even passed a vote, 
" earnestly recommending it to the President,* Tutors, 
Professors, and Instructors, by personal application to 
the students under impressions of a religious nature, 
and by all other means, to encourage and promote this 
good work." ^ No wonder that the immediate agent in 
" this good work " should have thought himself an 
instrument in the hand of God, and should have sin- 
cerely believed that he spake as he was moved by the 
Holy Ghost ; nor is it at all surprising that so exalted a 
position should have been accompanied with higher 
pretensions than comported with the wisdom acquired 
in the first twenty-six years of human life. It is evi- 
dent that he felt his power, and was not always re- 
strained, in the use of it, by reflections which might 
have influenced persons of more moderate claims. His 
denunciations of the Colleges, made with little consid- 
eration for the feelings of the officers and students, 

1 Quincy's History, vol. ii. p. 43. 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 65 

were altogether more violent than circumstances seem 
to have warranted. " As to the Universities, I believe 
it may be said that their light has become darkness — 
darkness that may be felt, and is complained of by the 
most godly ministers." " Tutors neglect to pray with 
and examine the hearts of their pupils. Discipline is 
at too low an ebb." " Tillotson and Clarke are read, 
instead of Shepard and Stoddard, and such like evan- 
gelical writers." ^ 

Ill-considered charges of this sort were repeated so 
often and so long, as to prove that they did not spring 
from accidental misapprehension, which might have 
been corrected, but from a steady purpose to bring dis- 
credit upon the College. At last, after such a course 
had been pursued for four years, the whole faculty of 
the College joined in a protest against his statements, 
denying their truth, and exposing their want of evidence, 
and their " uncharitable," " censorious," and " slander- 
ous" character. Whitefield replied, and Dr. Wiggles- 
worth, the Hollis Professor of Divinity, responded to 
his pamphlet by another, in which he speaks with a 
degree of severity to which his mild nature could not 
have been roused but by extreme provocation.^ 

' Quincy's Hist. vol. ii. p. 41. 

2 To the charge that " Tutors neglect to pray with their pupils, 
Wigglesworth's reply is, that, if Whitefield meant that social worship, 
morning and evening, was not maintained, " it is so vile a slander, that 
we can hardly believe you met with a single man who was false and 
bold enough to give you such an account of us." But if Whitefield 
meant that, besides morning and evening prayers, tutors did not take 
their pupils into their own chambers and pray with them again, Wig- 
glesworth inquires, " What law of Clarist hath made this the ordinary 

5 



66 HISTORY OF 

President Holyoke also entered the lists in defence 
of the College, and added an appendix to Dr. Wiggles- 
duty of tutors, that you should thinlc a neglect of it such a reproach 
that the world ought to hear of it ? " 

To his charge, that " Tutors do not examine the hearts of then- 
pupils," Wigglesworth replies, " To examine our own hearts is indeed 
a great duty, but that it is our duty ordinarily to examine tlie hearts of 
others is not so clear. The Son of God hath said, (Rev. ii. 23,) " I am 
he who searches tJte rdiu and hearts ; would you have tutors invade 
his prerogative ? or would you introduce the Popish practice of auric- 
ular confession ? If you meant only to assert that the souls of pupils 
are not taken care of, by saying that here, as in the Universities of 
England, " Christ and Christianity is scarce so much as named among 
them," it is a very injurious and false representation, as you might 
easily have known, had your ears not been more open to evil reports 
than to good ones." 

As to the charge that " discipline is at a low ebb," Dr. Wiggles- 
worth replies, " This reproach we had little reason to expect at the 
time you published it. We had just turned out one tutor for corrupt 
principles, and expelled a professor for immoral practices. It is not to 
be supposed that a government which does not spare its own officers 
would at the same time wink at the faults of its children." 

In reply to the charge that " books such as Tillotson and Clarke- 
were read, and evangehcal writers neglected," Dr. Wigglesworth 
states that, for almost nine years, Tillotson's works had not been taken 
out of the library by any undergraduates, and Clarke's works not for 
two years ; " and he publishes a formidable list of ''-writers reckoned 
evangelical, so often borrowed by undergraduates as scarcely ever to 
be m the library." 

Dr. Wigglesworth concludes his letter by " putting it personally to 
Whitefield's conscience," what good end he proposed to himself by 
thus publicly calumniating the College ? " It is easy to see many thing."* 
very hurtful to us, which you might have in view, such as discour- 
aging benefactors, injurmg tlie seminary in estate as well as name, 
and preventing pious parents from sending their children to us for ed- 
ucation. A private notice of what you heard to the disadvantage of 
the College, instead of traducing it, was what the governors had a 
right to have expected of you, if not as a Christian, at least as a gen- 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 67 

worth's pamphlet, which closed a controversy that ex- 
hibited the ability with which the affairs of the College 
were managed, and was a specimen of the jealousy 
with which its proceedings are usually watched, and of 
the readiness with which even unfounded charges 
against it are seized on by a portion, at least, of the 
community. If there really were any design of " dis- 
couraging benefactors, injuring the seminary in estate 
as well as name, and preventing pious parents from 
sending their children to us for education," the attempt 
failed in the most satisfactory manner ; for donations 
were not infrequent at this very period, and the num- 
ber of students continued as great as before ; while a few 
years later, the general attachment of the public to the 
College, the pride felt in the institution, and the filial 
affection to their Alma Mater of her now numerous 
sons, which prompted their efforts to sustain her, were 
all most signally shown. 

That these feelings were deeply seated and widely 
spread, throughout even the whole of New England, 
was sufficiently proved upon the occurrence of another 
calamity, which must be enumerated among those 
which happened while Holyoke was in the chair. In 
1764, Harvard Hall, containing the library, philosoph- 
ical apparatus, and all the little collections of objects of 

lleman, since you acknowledge you were very ci\nlly treated and 
kindly entertained." 

After proving that Whitefield had " very injuriously and sinfully mis- 
represented the College," Dr. Wigglesworth concludes with a prayer 
that he may be " brought to such a temper of mind and correspondent 
conduct, as to be prepared to receive forgiveness from God and man, 
and may obtain it from both." Quincy's History, vol. ii. p. 49 to 51. 



68 HISTORY OF 

interest belonging to the College, was destroyed by- 
fire — an event than which one can hardly imagine any- 
thing more appalling, or apparently more overwhelm- 
ing, to an institution which had always been compelled 
to struggle with poverty within and around, and which 
now lost, in one stormy winter's night, the scanty but 
precious accumulations of a hundred and twenty-six 
years. On the 24th of January, 1764, were destroyed 
the books given by John Harvard, Sir Kenelm Digby, 
Sir John Maynard, Dr. Lightfoot, Dr. Gale, Bishop 
Berkeley, and other distinguished benefactors ; the 
types, Greek and Hebrew, and many books, presented 
by the first Thomas HoUis ; the curious telescopes, the 
globes, the philosophical instruments, and a long cata- 
logue of articles, which, if they had been preserved to 
our day, would have been of incalculable and inexpres- 
sible interest to the literary and scientific inquirer, as 
well as to the historian, the antiquary, and the bibli- 
ographer.^ 

It must have been painful, even distressing, to the 
ofhcers and the few students remaining in Cambridge 
during the vacation, to witness the inevitable destruc- 
tion of so much that was the source of recollections and 
hopes alike pleasant and inspiring, and on which the 
utility of their lives seemed to depend. Dark indeed 
must have been the morning when the ashes of Har- 
vard Hall were buried in the falling snow, when a 
frightful contagious disease was threatening the whole 
community, and when the sense of irreparable loss was 

^ Many of the early records and accounts are supposed to have per- 
ished in this fire. 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 69 

aggravated by the knowledge of the restricted means 
that would, or could, be applied to the restoration of 
what it was possible to replace. 

But our fathers were not men to sit down in listless, 
inactive despondency. The legislature was in ses- 
sion ; and, in fact. Harvard Hall was occupied by 
them at the time of the calamity, in consequence 
of the alarm excited by the existence of the small- 
pox in Boston ; and at the instigation of Governor 
Barnard, they immediately resolved to erect a new 
building in place of that which had been destroyed 
while in their possession, and at once appropriated 
,^2000 to the purpose. The Corporation and Over- 
seers were equally prompt, in appointing committees 
to solicit aid, wherever their personal acquaintance, or 
the knowledge of the crushing calamity extended ; and 
the zeal of these gentlemen, seconded by the energy of 
the people of New England, and the generous sympa- 
thy of many in the parent country, who showed the 
most liberal spirit upon the occasion, soon resulted in 
putting the College in possession of a better building, a 
better library, and a better collection of instruments. 
There remained to be deplored the loss, which will be 
more and more lamented by every succeeding genera- 
tion of alumni, — the actual, specific gifts of those ven- 
erable men who, as they were the earliest, must be 
esteemed the kindest, and have ever been held among 
the most honored and distinguished of our patrons. 

One more misfortune of no inconsiderable magnitude 
marked the administration of Holyoke, and this was a 
rehelUon of the students, which interrupted the business 



70 HISTORY OF 

of the College for more than a month. Some indica- 
tions of a relaxation of the primitive strictness of man- 
ners in the young men have been adverted to, particu- 
larly the disorders which occurred at Commencement, 
and against which constant votes and regulations were 
passed by the Corporation, apparently with little effect. 
To avoid the repetition of such scenes, the festivities of 
Commencement were sometimes entirely omitted, and 
a vote conferring degrees was privately passed, without 
the usual display of academical acquirements by the 
graduating class. But no disturbances or discontents, 
amounting to anything that could be called a demon- 
stration of a spirit of rebellion, are recorded till the year 
1767, when that grievance which, for fifty years after- 
wards, continued to be a fruitful source of trouble, the 
bad quality of the commons provided for the students, 
produced the serious explosion which was then denom- 
inated a rebellion. At all periods of the previous his- 
tory of the College, the management of the business of 
purveying had been a large part of the employment of 
the Corporation ; and it is amusing to see, term after 
term, and year after year, the formal votes, passed by 
this venerable body of seven ruling and teaching elders, 
regulating the price at which a cue (a half pint) of 
cider, or a sizing (ration) of bread, or beef, might be 
sold to the student by the butler. There is reason to 
believe that the quality of the provisions, in 1767, was 
not exactly what is required by the more delicate youth 
of the present day ; and perhaps it was less carefully 
adapted to the general organization of the human stom- 
ach and palate than was really desirable,' But whether 
1 See Peirce's Historj^, p. 219. 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 71 

rightfully or wrongfully, the College was for a long 
lime exposed to the very serious evils, and the injurious 
reputation, which accompany and follow any exhibi- 
tion of a turbulent spirit by the young men — evils 
which are of sufficient magnitude to require great care 
to avoid them on the part of the officers, and which, 
one would think, might be so impressed on the minds 
of ingenuous youth, that they would be willing to make 
some sacrifice, and submit to some real inconvenience, 
rather than incur them. 

It must not be supposed that President Holyoke's 
long term was marked by nothing but misfortunes, 
though so many, and so heavy, troubles occurred. On 
the contrary, few periods of the College history have 
been more distinguished by the general favor, by the 
eminence of those concerned in its government, the 
well-founded reputation gained in after life by its pupils, 
or the liberality shown towards it by its benefactors. 
A new era began, a little before President Holyoke's 
connection with the College, which has become more 
and more important, with the extension of the institu- 
tion, down to our own day. The establishment of two 
professorships, by the generous and highminded HoUis, 
gave the President who, previously, had only tutors to 
aid him in the instruction and government of the Col- 
lege, the assistance of two men of eminence in very 
important departments of learning. The president's 
labors must have been much lightened by such coop- 
eration •, and Holyoke was happy in his connection 
with men, not only distinguished for their learned attain- 
ments, but endowed with those qualities of mind and heart 



72 HISTORY OF 

which inspire affection and respect, and render the 
intercourse of life agreeable. 

Edward Wiggles worth, the first Hollis Professor 
of Divinity, was one in whom the best elements of 
human character were happily mingled. He was 
learned, liberal, sagacious, mild, and firm, and there- 
fore well qualified to add reputation to the College. 
His literary taste and cultivation were of a high order ; 
and it is a proof of his virtues, no less than of his 
ability, that he should have maintained the post of Pro- 
fessor of Divinity, in this jealous and watchful commu- 
nity, for forty-four years, not only without reproach, 
but to the general acceptance. 

The successor of Greenwood, too, in the chair of 
Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, was one of 
those uncommon men, who accomplish much that is 
honorable to themselves and to all who are associated 
with them. Belonging to a family than Avhich none 
has been more illustrious in the history of Massachu- 
setts, John Winthrop was eminent for his attainments 
in science, and distinguished himself among all, not 
merely at home but in Europe, who devoted themselves 
to similar pursuits. His communications to the Royal 
Society, of London, were numerous and acceptable ; and 
his scientific knowledge was made available for valuable 
purposes on more than one occasion. He took great 
pains to make accurate observations of a transit of 
Venus in 1761, and with the aid of the Governor, 
who procured the use of a vessel belonging to the 
Province, he went to Newfoundland for the purpose, 
and was quite successful in his object. The longi- 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 73 

tude, comets, meteors, and earthquakes successively 
engaged his attention ; and his treatises on these 
subjects were published in the Transactions of the 
Royal Society. He was well known and in high re- 
pute as a literary man also, and as a general scholar ; 
and was not undistinguished as an honorable and faith- 
ful public servant, at a time when neither honorable 
men, nor suffering in the service of the country, were 
of rare occurrence. The name of Winthrop loses 
nothing in connection with the professor, however high 
it stood in previous times, or however it has been illus- 
trated in later days. 

Another coadjutor in the toils of instruction at this 
period was Henry Flynt, who held the office of tutor 
for the singularly long period of fifty-five years ; a 
man whose learning, industry, judgment, moderation, 
and decision, made him an important contributor to the 
good order and scholarship of the College. It is re- 
markable how many of the officers of this period served 
for terms of time much longer than the usual average. 
Holyoke himself was President for thirty-two years 
from 1737 ; Wigglesworth was professor for forty-four 
years from 1721 ; Winthrop for forty-one years from 
1738 ; and Flynt was tutor for fifty-five years from 1699. 
All the four acted officially together between sixteen 
and seventeen years, and three of them for twenty-seven 
years ; and they must have had much reason to be 
satisfied with the general prosperity of the College, and 
the favor manifested towards it, by the public and by 
individuals. The legislature made annual grants to 
the president and professors, and erected in 1762-3} 



74 HISTORY OF 

the building which still bears the honored name of 
Hollis, besides restoring Harvard Hall, after the fire ; 
while private persons contributed largely, and more 
frequently than before, to the support and ornament of 
the cherished institution. One of the donations, of so 
interesting a character that it deserves to be specially 
commemorated, even in the briefest account of Harvard 
College, is the gift of a chapel, which was erected at 
the expense of a family in London. Mrs. Holden was 
the widow of a wealthy Dissenter, who had been emi- 
nent, not more for his success in life as a merchant, 
than for the virtues which adorned his station and his 
faith ; and she and her daughters delighted in the ex- 
ercise of the benevolence which had been characteristic 
of the husband and father. They gave orders that a 
new chapel should be built at their charge ; and tradi- 
tion says that they only expressed surprise that so small 
a sum as c£400 should have been found sufficient for 
the purpose. Holden Chapel still stands ; and, though 
diverted from its original purpose, and sadly disfigured 
by additions and alterations, it yet gives evidence of 
the pleasing taste in architecture which seems to have 
characterized the middle of the last century, more than 
any other period of our history. It is due to the mem- 
ory of such Christian friends, that the monument of 
their bounty should be preserved, or renewed. 

An attempt made in 1762, to establish another Col- 
lege, in the western counties of the Province, which 
was for a time favored by Gov. Barnard, was defeated 
by the efforts of those interested for Cambridge, and 
as they thought, for good learning ; and was banished 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 75 

from recollection, for a long period, by the great out- 
break of public sympathy and energy, which were 
combined to repair the losses occasioned by the disas- 
trous fire in 1764. Disastrous it must be called ; and 
yet the universal resolution that was exhibited, to rein- 
state the College in its prominent position, was an inval- 
uable pledge of future security ; and it must have 
cheered the heart of every officer, and friend of the 
school, to witness the efforts made, at home and abroad, 
by public bodies and private persons, to replace the 
materials and apparatus for the prosecution of aca- 
demic studies. This is one of the cases of such fre- 
quent recurrence, in which, in the course of Providence, 
great good is ultimately, and sometimes speedily, 
brought out of a seemingly overwhelming calamity. 

Another source of gratification, as well to the other 
officers as to President Holyoke, in the later period of 
their labors, was the honorable distinction attained by 
their pupils, in those pursuits and duties of life for 
which their College education was intended to prepare 
them. The usual proportion of professional men, cler- 
gymen, lawyers, and physicians, is found in the cata- 
logue at this period ; and the names of not a few who 
afterwards distinguished themselves in the service of 
their country, in civil and military life, during the 
perilous struggle that was approaching. Samuel Ad- 
ams, James Bowdoin, John Hancock, John Adams, 
Jonathan Trumbull, Timothy Pickering, have become 
familiar names in the history of the most important 
epoch of the country's history ; and there were many 
others who served as well and faithfully as these, 



76 HISTORY OF 

though it might be in less conspicuous stations. Hol- 
yoke did not live to witness all the eminence of his 
pupils, though he must have seen the promise of their 
opening career, and must have felt the full assurance 
of faith in their characters, and their success. 

Another event of the most cheering influence, as an 
omen of the future prosperity of the College, was the 
establishment of a professorship by a merchant of Bos- 
ton, Thomas Hancock, the coryphssus of the band who 
have since followed his example of munificence. In 
1764 he bequeathed c£ 1,000 sterling to the President 
and Fellows, for the purpose of creating a professor- 
ship of Hebrew and other Oriental Languages. This 
was the first professorship ever founded by a native of 
New England ; and it has proved but the precursor of 
a long list of donations for similar purposes of instruc- 
tion, which have, at successive periods, marked the 
honorable ambition to be remembered for the good they 
have done, characteristic of the enlightened and liberal 
merchants of Boston. 

Altogether, the thirty-two years of Holyoke's presi- 
dency are among the most prosperous in the history of 
the College ; and to this result he himself contributed 
largely. His learning was extensive, his judgment 
sound, his manner dignified, his temper firm and gentle. 
A man with such qualifications would be sure to com- 
mand the esteem of his contemporaries, and to leave 
behind him a long and grateful memory of his virtues and 
his wisdom. Not content with the service rendered dur- 
ing the better part of his life, he contributed to the pecu- 
niary resources of the institution, as he had been accus- 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 77 

tomed to do to the means of individuals desiring to re- 
ceive a Cambridge education/ He was sometimes 
thought to be blunt in his manners ; but a consideration 
of the somewhat formal politeness of the last century 
may suggest a doubt whether he were not, in reality, 
only a little in advance of his age, in adopting the free- 
dom and ease of familiarity. On all public occasions 
he was remarkable for the dignity of his deportment. 

His long and successful administration afforded a 
most striking contrast to that of his immediate succes- 
sor, who held the office only about three years and a 
half. He was chosen in March, 1770, without any 
opposition ; and, what was then not less remarkable, 
he was the first person chosen. That he was a man 
of note must be inferred from the single fact that he 
was selected for this important station ; for he left no 
trace of himself upon the College, or upon his times. 
Samuel Locke was the minister of Sherburne, and was 
graduated in 1755. Thus he must have been the 
youngest person ever called to the President's chair, 
unless he were very unusually advanced in age at the 
time of taking his degree. Well would it have been 
for him, if he had been wise as well as young ; but his 
conspicuous situation only made more lamentable the 
misconduct which led to his sudden retirement. What 
the nature of his offence was is not stated by the his- 
torian of the College, and it is quite unnecessary to 
inquire minutely into the delinquency of the only Presi- 
dent ever suspected of an immorality. He passed the 
remainder of his life in preparing boys to enter the 
' See the anecdote told by Dr. West, Quincy's History, vol. ii. p. 120. 



78 HISTORY OF 

College to which his administration had proved so 
little valuable ; and a few persons, still living, have a 
respectful memory of him as an instructor, in the seclu- 
sion of Natick, or Sherburne. 

The interest felt in the College was shown during 
his term, by the continuance of grants made by the 
legislature, in aid of the salaries of the president and 
professors, by the foundation of two new professorships, 
and by donations of smaller amounts from individuals 
here, and, even at this late period, from many in Eng- 
land and Scotland. The professorships were those 
founded by Dr. Ezekiel Hersey and Nicholas Boylston, 
the one of Anatomy and Physic, the other, of Rhetoric 
and Oratory. The funds, though large, .£1,000 for the 
former, and .£1,500 for the latter, were not sufficient 
for the maintenance of professors, and were allowed to 
accumulate for several years. The late Dr. John War- 
ren was appointed the first Hersey professor, in 1783, 
and the Hon. John Q. Adams the first Boylston profes- 
sor, in 1806. ' 

Besides these considerable donations from friends at 
home, there were many tokens of remembrance from 
persons of less note and wealth, but no less desirous to 
promote the usefulness of the College ; and what is not 
a little striking, considering the aspect of public affairs, 
there were eight or ten gifts from persons in London 
and Edinburgh ; one from the Society for Propagating 
Christian Knowledge, and one from the Edinburgh 
Society for Promoting Religious Knowledge, consisting 
of money, books, prints, and other articles of value. 
The interest and good will of a large party in Great 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 79 

Britain were not diminished by the revolutionary signs 
of the times. 

An event, from which nothing was anticipated but 
an increase of resources and patronage, but which re- 
sulted in nothing but vexation and annoyance to the 
government of the College, was the election of the 
Hon. John Hancock to the office of treasurer in July, 
1773. From 1764 to that date, he had been a frequent 
and a liberal contributor to the funds of the institution ; 
and it was presumed that he would watch over them 
with the same pleasure with which he had enlarged 
them. It appeared, indeed, that he intended to watch 
over them, and keep them under his own eye, though 
not exactly in the manner contemplated by the Corpo- 
ration ; whose alarm may easily be imagined when they 
found their treasurer had ordered all their bonds, and 
other evidences of property, to be carried to Phila- 
delphia ; which was then almost as much a foreign 
country, and was quite as distant, measuring distance 
by time, as England is now. It is difficult to imagine 
what could have been the motive for this conduct, or 
for his long neglect of the interest of the College ; but 
it is sufficiently evident that, as it was injurious to the 
seminary, it could not have been beneficial to the repu- 
tation of the renowned revolutionary patriot. 

A circumstance, of no moment in itself, but strik- 
ingly indicative of the thoughts which passed through 
men's minds at this period, is the alteration, which took 
place in 1773, in the manner of printing the names of 
the students, in the triennial College Catalogue. Before 
that date they were arranged in the supposed order of 



80 HISTORY OF 

rank of the families to which they belonged ; a task, 
one would think, of some difficulty, where so few were 
of any rank at all. But from that time, the republican 
estimate of the value of dignities prevailed ; and the 
order of the alphabet superseded the precedence of a 
justice of the peace, or a captain in the train bands. 



1774 — 1780. 

The choice of the next president was a matter of 
no small difficulty. The troubles and perils of the 
times occupied all minds, and indisposed men to under- 
take new duties, which had no relation to public events. 
Nine months were passed in unsuccessful attempts to 
elect a successor ; and, for the first, and only, time in 
the history of the College, recourse was had, at length, 
to a neighboring Province, to supply the want which 
could not be provided for, as it seemed, in Massachu- 
setts. Dr. Samuel Langdon, of Portsmouth, in New 
Hampshire, assumed the chair in October, 1774 ; and 
in about six months from that time, the battle of Lex- 
ington was fought, an army began to assemble at Cam- 
bridge, the College buildings were converted into bar- 
racks, and the government and students were removed 
to Concord, to carry on, as well as they could, the 
business of instruction and learning, in a country vil- 
lage, without halls, or any of the usual means and ap- 
pliances of instruction. 

They continued at that place fourteen months ; the 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 81 

library having been conveyed first to Andover, and a 
part of it afterwards to Concord, by order, and at the 
expense, of the Provincial Congress. In the summer 
of 1776, they returned to Cambridge, and there the 
institution has remained ever since, with no greater 
change than has arisen from its gradual development, 
the increase of its resources, and its ready adaptation 
to the varying wants of the community. There was 
very great danger of its removal a second time, in the 
autumn of 1777, for the accommodation of the pris- 
oners of war from the field of Saratoga ; but this was 
happily averted by the energy of the Corporation in 
procuring other lodgings for these troops, and yielding 
to the pressure only so far as. to surrender to their use 
the building known as the College House, which stood 
near the site now occupied by the church of the first 
parish. 

The celebration of Commencement was omitted for 
several years ; a circumstance which very clearly indi- 
cates how completely men's hearts and thoughts were 
engrossed by the events of those days. There was no 
time to spare for listening to academic displays, to the 
metaphysical discussions, or the learned contests of 
youthful students. Nothing was interesting but the 
stern encounter of men with men, — the practical logic 
of the court room, the glowing eloquence of Faneuil 
Hall, or the intense excitement of the battle. It must 
have been difficult for the students to compel their 
attention to the acquisition of the knowledge of past 
times, when everything in the present was so full of 
deep interest ; and it would be no cause of suprise if 
6 



82 HISTORY OF 

their numbers had dnTiinished, or their reputation for 
proficiency had fallen off. It is, however, observable, 
that there seemed no decay of either sort ; the num- 
bers remained about the same as before, and the names 
of those who afterwards became eminent, in church and 
state, are neither few nor far between. 

The event which occupies most space in the records 
of the Corporation at this period, — and very reasona- 
bly does so, as it was of extraordinary importance, and 
connected the College, far more than was natural or 
desirable, with the political agitations of the time, be- 
sides embarrassing the administration of the seminary 
with infinite and unnecessary perplexities, — was the 
conduct of their treasurer, who not only carried the 
movable property to Philadelphia, but neglected to 
make out any annual account, and refused either to 
perform the duties of the office, or to resign it. He 
was so important a personage politically, that the Cor- 
poration, in the midst of their anxiety about the ac- 
counts, did not dare to use the tone of remonstrance 
which would have been addressed to any other man ; 
and it is painfully interesting to observe how they 
shrank from offending one who cared so little for their 
wants, or their rights. They repeatedly asked, in a 
very respectful, and almost submissive, manner, for a 
statement of accounts which they could not get, and 
for the restoration of their property, which they did 
not obtain till 1777, and then only by sending a special 
messenger after it to Philadelphia. The accounts of 
Treasurer Hancock were not finally adjusted and the 
balance due from him paid, till after his death, by his 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 83 

executors. He was a man of so considerable an estate 
that there could have been no fear of ultimate loss ; 
but the love of delay, and the entire and wanton disre- 
gard of the appropriate duties of an office he would 
not resign, and of the feelings and reasonable desires 
of men who deserved his respectful attention, have 
caused a greater loss to him than he could have antici- 
pated at the time. 

Another event, of a more agreeable character, was 
the bestowing of an honorary degree on General 
Washington, after his brilliant success in driving the 
British forces from Boston. This was the first docto- 
rate of laws ever conferred by Harvard College ; and, 
though it may not seem a peculiarly appropriate re- 
ward for military achievements, yet it must be remem- 
bered that Washington was not merely a military man ; 
that he had already given large evidence, in his native 
state, of that wisdom, moderation, ability, and con- 
stancy, which mark a man likely to prove equal to all 
occasions, and to influence all the circumstances by 
which he may be surrounded. It was to the civilian, 
and not to the successful military commander, that the 
degree was given ; and if, at the moment, there were 
any deficiency of proof of his actual attainments to 
justify the compliment, it must have been revealed to 
the prophetic eye of the College government, that the 
time was not far distant when the degree would derive 
honor from having been conferred on him. Never, in 
the history of nations, has there been a more difficult 
and delicate task than fell to the lot of our fathers in 
devising and organizing a form of government ; and 



84 HISTORY OF 

never was there an occasion when a knowledge of 
every kind of law, " utriusque juris, turn natures et 
gentium, turn civilis,'''' was more imperatively demanded 
by the exigencies of the case, or more satisfactorily 
exhibited by the leading minds of the country. Among 
them Washington was conspicuous ; and when it be- 
came his duty to support the Constitution adopted, and 
to execute the laws framed under it, no man could 
have shown a more enlightened and comprehensive 
acquaintance with his legal duties. It was the union 
of high intellectual and moral qualities, which produced 
the matchless character that can scarcely be too greatly 
admired and loved. 

It was not inappropriate, then, for the College to tes- 
tify its respect for such a man, in the only way in its 
power ; by conferring a degree which, even at that 
time, was suited to the capacity he had shown, and 
which was destined to be rendered a greater honor to 
all others, from its having been received by Washing- 
ton. Nor can this act be urged as a reason for doing 
the same to other holders of office, whether military or 
civil, unless, like him, they confer dignity on the place 
they fill, rather than derive from it their own title to 
respect. 

It is pleasing to recall to mind the tribute paid to 
Harvard College, at this period, by the eminent men 
who formed the Constitution of Massachusetts. In that 
instrument the progress of good learning, and of the 
College, is especially commended to the care of the 
legislature ; and they are enjoined " to cherish the inter- 
ests of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 85 

of them ; especially the University at Cambridge, pub- 
lic schools, and grammar schools in the towns," &c. 
The rights of the President and Fellows were carefully 
secured, and the organization of the Board of Over- 
seers was provided for ; and all this was done with the 
immediate cooperation and assistance of the Corpora- 
tion. James Bowdoin, the President of the Convention 
for forming the Constitution, and afterwards Governor 
of the State, was a member of the Corporation of Har- 
vard College, at the time ; and deserves honorable and 
grateful mention for his faithful services in the cause of 
sound learning, and universal education, as well as for 
his other valuable labors. Nothing could have been 
more honorable to all parties, leaders and followers, 
than the recognition of the importance of education, 
and of the principal institution for intellectual cultiva- 
tion in the State ; as nothing will be more lamentable 
than to witness any decline of the interest felt, and ex- 
pressed, by our fathers, in that most valuable of all 
rights, the right of improving intellectually and morally. 
One of the earliest acts of the revolutionary legisla- 
ture of the Province was to sequester the property of 
refugee Tories ; and one of the best uses to which pro- 
perty acquired by so poor a title could be put was to 
supply some of the many wants of the suffering Col- 
lege. Accordingly the legislative conscience was, in 
some degree, quieted, by making the library the recipi- 
ent of a good many volumes which had escheated to 
the State in that way. In April, 1778, in answer to 
the memorial of the Corporation, requesting liberty to 
purchase some of the books which had been seized, the 



86 HISTORY OF 

legislature made a free gift of about four hundred vol- 
umes of very miscellaneous, but standard, and valuable, 
works. 

It was a fortunate circumstance that the College had 
secured the services of a londjide treasurer, before the 
period when paper money was freely issued by Con- 
gress, and the several States ; and before that course of 
depreciation was begun, which added not a little to the 
trials and perplexities of the time. The history of the 
depreciation of the currency, during the war of the rev- 
olution, is very interesting ; and to any one who under- 
stands the operation of a constantly and rapidly falling 
circulating medium, and the painful effects of the return 
to a more solid basis, the mere statement of the value 
of the paper money, of the many various emissions, at 
successive dates, presents a series of pictures full of 
details of misery, — poverty extending, and courage to 
meet it failing, — the spirit of speculation excited in 
some, and of covetousness in others, — and the tempta- 
tion to violate the rules of honesty often proving too 
strong for the virtue of both government and people. 
There must have been, also, no small degree of confu- 
sion, in the multitude of local and general emissions, at 
every possible rate of discount, while a few were able 
to maintain themselves at par for a time ; and this con- 
fusion must have been increased by the number and 
variety of coin, and other measures of value, which 
were in common use. There were the original sterling 
coin of Great Britain, and what was called the " law- 
ful " money of Massachusetts, twent5^-five per cent, less 
in value ; the dollar of Spain, and at a little later period 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 87 

the livre, and the Louis d'or, of France ; so that it must 
have given pretty active employment to an industrious 
man, to keep himself accurately acquainted with the 
state of the money market during the revolution. We 
have had, in our own time, local derangements of the 
currency ; and sometimes more extended and general 
depreciations, which have speedily produced most dis- 
astrous convulsions in the body politic. But our expe- 
rience of such evils, great as they have been, is hardly 
sufficient to enable us to comprehend the miseries of 
our fathers, under the blighting influence of that deluge 
of continental and provincial paper, which seemed to 
sweep off, in its progress, the whole property of the 
community ; which aggravated every other evil, in- 
creased every other burden, and threatened to nullifv 
the very successes that promised, from time to time, 
to decide the contest in our favor. 

The College accounts, of this period, are full of preg- 
nant statements on this subject, which may serve to 
illustrate the course of events, and help us to form a 
judgment of the almost incomprehensible state of the 
currency. Under the date of December, 1778, is the 
following entry in Treasurer Storer's Journal : 

" Bills on France, two setts . . . ISO Dolls. 
Exchange 300 per cent. . . 540 " 

720 Dollars is £216.'" 
By March, 1779, another hundred per cent, is added 
to the rate of exchange, and we find the following 
entry : 

" Bills on France . . . 600 Dollars 

Exchange at 400 per cent. 2400 " 

3000 DoUars is £900/' 



88 HISTORY OF 



In December, 1779, occurs the following : 

'• Bills on France ... 420 Dolls. 

Exchange 2400 per cent. . . 10,080 " 



10,500 Dolls, is £3,150." 

In February, 1780, they had reached 2,900 per cent, 
advance, and in March, 1781, there is an entry to the 
following effect : 

'• Bills on France . . . 1,200 Dolls. 

Exchange 5,500 per ce7it. . . 66,000 " 



67,200 Dolls, is £20,160 ! " 

What sort of pounds these were, in which the ac- 
counts were kept, may be judged by the following 
entries : • 

" September 17S0. 

Occasional Expenses Dr. 

1 Ream of paper, to the Steward £150. 0. 0." 

"March 1781. 

Occasional Expenses Dr. 

50 quills, to the Steward . . £22. 10. 0." 

When a ream of paper cost f 500, and a quill $1.50, 
exchange might be expected to stand pretty high. In 
November, 1780, the sum of .£441. 18. is charged for 
four corporation dinners, being .£110. 9. 6. for each oc- 
casion, and £15. 15. 7f . for each person, equivalent to 
$52.61 for a dinner. The explanation of such a charge 
is to be sought in the quality of the currency, rather 
than in that of the viands, probably ; as the half-dollar 
dinner furnished on similar occasions at the present 
day is, doubtless, as good as that which cost more 
than $50 in 1780. 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 89 

In 1784, the treasurer made a schedule of the certifi- 
cates belonging to the College, with their nominal and 
specie value. The former was $100,100, the latter 
825,787, or about one fourth part of the sum for which 
they were issued. The College did not bear the whole 
of this loss, as many of the certificates were purchased 
at a large discount ; but the fall was still so great as to 
oblige the Corporation to reduce, for a time, the rate of 
interest that should be allowed, on donations which 
had been made before the depreciation began. 

The troubles of these times were great, not less in 
the College than in the country generally ; and Presi- 
dent Langdon was unfortunate, in having a larger share 
of them than fell to the lot of even most other promi- 
nent men. It appears that, notwithstanding his toils 
for the support of the institution, which were certainly 
untiring and heavy, he did not succeed in acquiring 
sufficiently the respect and good will, either of his asso- 
ciates in the immediate government, or of the pupils. 
The latter, with the aid and encouragement of some of 
the former, adopted the very extraordinary measure of 
voting him unfit for his place ; and strangely, and pas- 
sionately, accused him of " impiety, heterodoxy, and 
unfitness for the office of preacher of the Christian 
religion." That these accusations were as groundless 
as they were harsh, is rendered probable by the prompt- 
ness with which they were recalled by those who made 
them, as soon as he had resigned the presidency, and 
by the whole tenor of his life and conversation. What 
was the secret source of ill will, it is difficult to discover, 
or to imagine ; and we have only to lament their effect 



90 HISTORY OF 

upon him, leading him suddenly to retire, under the 
shock of the chagrin and disappointment such proceed- 
ings were adapted to produce. 



1781 — 1806. 

The successor of Dr. Langdon was the Rev. Joseph 
WiLLARD, of Beverly, who was inaugurated on the 
19th of December, 1781, and who fully justified the 
choice of the governors of the College by the ability, 
energy, learning, piety, and dignity, which formed and 
adorned his character. Coming to the chair at the 
moment when the mingled successes and disasters of 
the country, the universal poverty, and the intense 
interest in public affairs, turned the thoughts of the 
young, as well as of the old, from the pursuit of know- 
ledge to that of gain or renown, he yet succeeded in 
reviving, to a great extent, the spirit of learning, the 
desire for education, and the respect to which litera- 
ture and science are, under all circumstances, justly 
entitled. New life was infused into the management 
of the College, in all its departments ; and such was 
the discipline maintained, no doubt in part by the per- 
sonal dignity and influence of Dr. Willard, that, although 
during the long term of twenty-three years that he 
occupied the position of President, severe punishments 
were sometimes inflicted for serious offences, yet there 
is no record of any of those combinations among the 
students for resisting, or insulting, the authority of the 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 91 

government, which have been termed rebellions, and 
v^hich have not been so entirely unknown in earlier, 
ind later, periods of the College history. 

An important extension of the usefulness of the 
;jollege took place in President Willard's term, by the 
Teation of new departments of instruction, viz. : in 
Anatomy, the Theory and Practice of Physic, and 
'hemistry. In 1783, a professor was appointed, on the 
oundation established by Dr. Ezekiel Hersey, in 1772, 
or the first-mentioned purpose ; and, principally by 
he zeal and ability of the incumbent, the late Dr. 
ohn Warren, a school of medicine was in fact begun, 
1 connection with the College. In 1788 Dr. Cumming 
;ave <£300 sterling, in 1790, the widow of Dr. E. Hersey 
then Mrs. Derby) gave c£ 1,000 more for the support of 
le medical and surgical department, and in 1794, Dr. 
^bner Hersey added oS'SOO for the same purpose. In 
791, a foundation was laid for a professorship of chem- 
3try, by the gift of .£1000 from Major William Erving. 
?hus began regular instruction in a profession which 
lad hitherto received no specific attention at Cambridge, 
lotwithstanding its acknowledged importance ; and 
rom this origin has sprung the Medical School, which 
las obtained deserved distinction in our day, and now 
eflects lustre on the institution in which it had its com- 
nencement. 

Another important addition to the usefulness of the 
/ollege was made, under the presidency and influence of 
)r. Willard, by the establishment of a system of prizes, 
liat,from the mode in which it was begun, and in which 
t has been uniformly conducted, has produced conse- 



92 HISTORY OF 

quences of the most favorable character to the institu- 
tion as well to its pupils. The difficulties and dangers 
surrounding this mode of stimulating the faculties of 
the young are so many, that it must be considered a 
proof of the sagacity of those who founded the prizes, 
whether they invented or only adopted the plan, that they 
should have succeeded in accomplishing much good, and 
at the same time, in avoiding nearly all the evil which 
frequently accompanies it. There was nothing in the 
College of the nature of a prize before the time of 
President Willard ; unless that character might be 
ascribed to the donations which were made, to the more 
meritorious of the young men, from a portion of the 
fund left by Gov. Hopkins, for the benefit both of the 
College, and of the Grammar School in the town of 
Cambridge. But the resemblance between a present 
for general good character and respectable attainments, 
and a prize for particular excellence, is so faint, that 
it is proper to say the prize system was introduced 
at this period. 

The first prizes were founded in 1794, by that en- 
lightened and constant friend of the College, Governor 
Bowdoin, who left a legacy of c£400, for the purpose 
of giving premiums, of moderate amount, to the au- 
thors of the best dissertations on subjects to be given 
out by the officers of the College. In order to secure 
impartiality in the judges, and calmness in the competi- 
tors, the names of the writers were not to be known, 
even to those who were to award the prize, until after 
judgment had been passed ; and then only those of the 
successful writers. Thus was secured the prominent 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 93 

advantage belonging to this kind of stimulus, — vigor- 
ous industry and exertion of naind ; while all the evils 
incident to active competition, jealousy, envy, sus- 
picion of unfairness, and the mortification of public 
failure, were successfully avoided ; and the young men 
were taught to toil for the sake of self-improvement, 
and the honor which naturally waits on such efforts, 
and not for the baser motive of gain, or the odious ex- 
citement of personal superiority over anxious competi- 
tors. The good fruits of this system have been so 
striking, that it cannot be too strongly recommended for 
imitation, in all cases where it may be found applicable ; 
and where it is not suitable, the question of the ex- 
pediency of giving premiums at all should, at least, be 
well considered. The great evils of direct and open 
competition, for specific prizes, have been too often and 
too deeply felt, to be renewed without strong induce- 
ments. 

In 1803, the same plan was adopted for promoting 
the acquisition of knowledge in the profession of medi- 
cine, by another steadfast and judicious friend of Har- 
vard College, Ward N. Boylston, Esq. who founded a 
prize for essays on subjects connected with the study 
of anatomy, physiology, and therapeutics. The sub- 
jects were to be given out, and the premiums awarded, 
by a large committee of physicians, eminent for their 
attainments and character ; and, although the appara- 
tus arranged for the purpose, which continues un- 
changed to the present time, may be somewhat more 
cumbrous than is necessary, yet there can be no doubt 
of the value of the system by which the study of medi- 



94 HISTORY OF 

cal science has been eminently promoted ; and which 
has done its full share in producing that habit of accu- 
rate research, and cautious reasoning, for which the 
faculty in New England are not undistinguished.' 

In looking over the catalogue of the graduates, of 
this period, one is struck both with the .resemblance to 
previous times, and also with the very great difference, 
which are nowhere more obvious than in that record of 
generations that are passed, and are passing, away. 
The resemblance is in the proportion of Harvard alumni 
who have attained distinction in the learned professions, 
in politibs, literature, or science ; the difference is in 
the great number of new posts which were to be filled, 
the increase of honors received from other Colleges, and 
from the multifarious new societies which sprang into 
existence with the republic, and which still continue to 
be multiplied, with the characteristic activity of Ameri- 
can ambition. The degrees from distant and foreign 
institutions, as well as the honors conferred by our own, 
and the membership of many literary and scientific 
associations, are generally put on record in the Cata- 
logue, and afford to coming generations an opportunity 
to look, with grateful respect, on men who performed 
well the duties of difficult positions, who were among 
the founders of some of our most valuable institu- 
tions, and who will leave behind them an enduring 
memory of the virtues which rendered them dear in 
private life, and honored in public station. Many of 

' The best plans may be used too frequently. Is there not some 
danger that premiums, awarded by committees, are becoming- too 
conmion, and too easily obtained ? 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 95 

Dr. Willard's pupils are still living, to command the 
respect and attachment of society, and to reflect a por- 
tion of their well-earned reputation on the institution 
in which they were trained, and on the instructors of 
their youthful intellects. Harvard College may justly 
be proud of th^ children of that age who " rise up and 
call her blessed." 

One of the most interesting occurrences of this pe- 
riod was the visit of President Washington to New 
England, in 1789, — an occasion which called forth the 
expression of those deep and earnest feelings of re- 
spect and attachment to him, which have nevdr varied 
for a moment in this whole people. The Corporation 
shared the universal sentiment, and presented an ad- 
dress to the President, in terms the most respectful and 
honorable.^ 

Men's hearts, at that time, were glowing with grati- 
tude and hope. The dangers of the revolutionary war 
were over ; the gloomy days of the Confederation, the 
days of weakness and confusion, were past ; a govern- 
ment had been organized, and there was good reason 
to expect that industry would revive, and wealth in- 
crease ; and that prosperity at home, and respectability 
abroad, would repay the country for her long sufferings, 
and produce a state of things which had never been 
known in Massachusetts. Much of this was soon real- 
ized ; and it is pleasant to contemplate the rapid growth 
of the country from the moment of the adoption of the 
Constitution, its development in every direction — pop- 

^ See Appendix for the address and the reply. 



96 HISTORY OF 

Lilation, wealth, arts, commerce, manufactures, litera- 
ture, science. The College felt the general blessing of 
a stable government and reviving credit, and was soon 
enabled to restore to their original value the donations 
which had been almost annihilated by the prodigious 
depreciation of the currency, and of the stocks in which 
the College property was invested. Great praise is 
due to the assiduous and skilful labor of Treasurer Sto- 
rer, in retrieving the property by judicious purchases in 
a rising market. The other associates of President 
Willard, in the Corporation, were Doctors Cooper, La- 
throp, and Howard, Governor Bowdoin, Judges Lowell, 
Gushing, and Wendell ; and the labors of instruction 
were shared with Dr. Edward Wigglesworth/ the son 
and worthy successor of the first Hollis Professor of 
Divinity ; Dr. Tappan, who succeeded him in the same 
chair, Samuel Williams and Samuel Webber, Hollis 
Professors of Mathematics ; Stephen Sewall and Eliph- 
alet Pearson,^ Hancock Professors of Hebrew and other 
Oriental languages ; Dr. John Warren, Hersey Profes- 
sor of Anatomy and Surgery ; Dr. Benjamin Water- 
house, Hersey Professor of the Theory and Practice 
of Physic ; and Dr. Aaron Dexter, Erving Professor of 
Chemistry. Most of these gentlemen are yet remem- 
bered, with well-deserved respect, by many belonging to 
the generations that have come after them ; and their 
united labors sustained, and increased, the rising reputa- 
tion and usefulness of the College they served. 

' Drs. Wigglesworth and Pearson were also of the Corporation 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 97 



1804 — 1810. 



The honorable and useful career of President Willard 
was terminated by death in September, 1804 ; and it 
was not till December, 1805, that the Corporation were 
able to unite in the choice of a successor ; Dr. Pearson, 
in the mean while, performing those duties of the office 
of president, which were indispensable to the proper 
management Of the society. The first election was of 
the Hon. Fisher Ames, a man whose brilliant mind and 
ardent temperament, combined with his pure and sin- 
gularly elevated character, could not have failed to shed 
lustre on the office, and to raise still higher the reputa- 
tion of the College. It was considered at the time, and 
has been regarded ever since, by those who are aware 
of the circumstance, as a serious disadvantage that the 
institution could not obtain the services of this eminent 
public man. But the state of his health, which was 
feeble, and other considerations of a private nature, 
prevented the College from receiving the benefit which 
the mere association of his name would have conferred 
upon it. 

The next choice fell upon Professor Webber, who, 
for seventeen years, had filled the chair of Mathemat- 
ics with good repute, and had always been assiduous 
and discreet in the service of the College. Not gifted 
with those brilliant powers which fascinated the con- 
temporaries of Fisher Ames, he was yet qualified, by 
his attainments, his good sense, and uprightness of 
7 



98 HISTORY OF 

character, for a post in which judgment, integrity, and 
knowledge are requisites of the greatest importance. 
He was a man of quiet and modest manners, and 
not conspicuous for the easy dignity of deportment 
which was a striking characteristic of his predecessor ; 
but he was efficient in government, and was much re- 
spected by those whom he directed, and those with 
whom he cooperated. The undiminished confidence of 
the community in the institution during his administra- 
tion, assisted as he was by the able men about him, 
was shown by grants from the legislature, and contri- 
butions from individuals. The grants were, first, of a 
license for a lottery, to procure the means of erecting 
a new building, and, second, of a township of land in 
Maine. The aid of individuals was given by a sub- 
scription of more than thirty thousand dollars, for the 
purpose of creating a Professorship of Natural History. 
Subscriptions of this sort were not so common at that 
time as they have become since ; and it must be con- 
sidered a decided proof both of confidence in the ad- 
ministration of the College, and of the strong and gen- 
eral desire of improving the means of education, that 
such things could be done, at a period when what may 
be called wealth was comparatively rare. These 
feelings were not so much centred in the president as 
had been the case in the past history of the seminary, 
because he was now surrounded by a much more nu- 
merous and important body of instructors than formerly ; 
still, much of the affection, or disaffection, which shows 
itself as a public sentiment, towards the College, may 
always be traced to the personal influence, the activity, 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 99 

the good judgment, of the president, or to his deficiency 
in those qualities which insure the respect and good-will 
of his contemporaries. 

President Webber's connection with the College, as 
its head, was not long enough to enable him to make 
any deep imprint on its condition, or greatly to aflfect 
its relations with the public ; but the occurrences of his 
time were not wanting in interest, or importance. The 
year before his election to the office of president, one 
of those events occurred which serve visibly to mark 
the progress of society, or at least a change, which, 
however it might have been suspected or anticipated by 
careful observers, had given no open evidence of its 
existence. A great effect has been produced upon the 
reputation, the prosperity, and the usefulness of the 
College, by the election, in 1805, of Dr. Henry Ware, 
who was known to be a Unitarian, to the Hollis Profes- 
sorship of Divinity. An animated controversy on the 
propriety of the choice immediately arose, and was 
continued for several years ; there was, indeed, a storm 
of discussion, the distant rolling and reverberation of 
which may, even yet, be occasionally heard. The elec- 
tion should not, however, be regarded as a cause, so 
much as it was an effect, of a change of public opinion 
in the neighborhood ; which for many years had been 
silently going on, and of which the evidences are to be 
sought in the character, and manner of preaching, of the 
clergy in this part of the Commonwealth, and the spirit 
of investigation and of independence of mere authority, 
which were conspicuous in their congregations. The 
right of private judgment, upon religious subjects, was 



100 HISTORY OF 

claimed for themselves by the Pilgrim fathers ; but it 
was reserved for a subsequent generation, not only to 
exercise their own right, but cordially to admit that of 
others ; and thus to establish and profess a freedom from 
dictation, and from all influences not arising from argu- 
ment and example, as perfect as can be desired. 

It would not be easy, nor perhaps would it be useful, 
to trace minutely the consequences of this change in 
the theological character of the College. Some of the 
most obvious were, the alienation of those who adhered 
to the sound orthodox views of their fathers ; the estab- 
lishment of new schools, the extension of older institu- 
tions not suspected of heresy, and the decline of the 
inclination of the legislature, " especially to cherish the 
interests of the University at Cambridge ; " and, on the 
other hand, the increased encouragement given by 
those who agreed in opinion with the College officers, 
or who loved the freedom they claimed and allowed, 
and were determined to extend, if possible, its benefi- 
cent influence. These views ofler a probable explana- 
tion of some existing facts ; and the inference would 
naturally follow, that the number of students would not 
increase, so fast as it would have done under other cir- 
cumstances, while the means of education would be 
supplied, both earlier and more extensively than they 
would have been, had no change taken place. As the 
spirit of freedom in religious, as well as political, and 
all other relations, is unequivocally the spirit of the 
age, the friends of the College may hope that the con- 
siderable means and apparatus of education, accumu- 
lated at Cambridge, will not always be expended upon a 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 101 

smaller number of students than might enjoy the benefit 
of them ; and that the fears of heretical influences will 
subside, since experience has long since proved them to 
have no substantial foundation. The controversy on 
the subject of the Hollis Professorship of Divinity con- 
tinued, directly or indirectly, for many years ; and con- 
tributed to the progress of that change of religious 
opinions, which has never ceased to spread through the 
community, and the effects of which are not, even yet, 
fully developed. President Webber died in 1810, after 
a term of only four years — years by no means want- 
ing in the distinction derived from the approbation of 
the wise and good, nor in that which arises from the 
reputation afterwards attained by the alumni of the day. 



1810 — 1828. 

It was not long after the decease of President Web- 
ber, that from among several prominent candidates for 
the vacant office, a selection was made by the Corpora- 
tion of one who possessed, in a remarkable degree, the 
most important qualifications for a place calling for the 
exercise of very various powers, — a place in which 
discernment should be combined with benevolence, de- 
cision with discretion, firmness with mildness, dignity 
wdth kindness. The Reverend Dr. John T. Kirkland 
was well known to be largely endowed with all these 
qualities ; he was intimately associated with all the 
most prominent literary men of his day, and was ac- 



102 HISTORY OF 

knowledged, throughout the country, to be an eminent 
preacher, and an accomplished writer. His election 
was hailed by the friends of the College with the satis- 
faction of the confident hope, inspired by his high and 
appropriate character, for which was soon substituted 
the certainty, of the extension of the resources and rep- 
utation of the institution. The College was a point 
around which the interest of the whole community in 
which it is placed was strongly attracted at this time ; 
especially, by the theological controversy which was 
going on, by the great efforts made by one party to 
take the control of the seminary from persons willing to 
profess sentiments which were at variance with those of 
the great mass of the public, and which had hitherto 
been maintained in unquestioned ascendency, and by 
the resolution of the other party to defend their posi- 
tion, and never to sacrifice liberty of thought, any more 
than freedom of action, to violence or intrigue. 

A new organization of the Board of Overseers took 
place, in the same year in which President Kirkland 
was chosen ; and though there was no connection be- 
tween the two events, yet this circumstance contributed, 
with others, to keep alive an active interest in the con- 
cerns of the College generally ; while the derangement . 
of every species of business constituting the ordinary 
occupations of the people, arising from the political 
occurrences of the day, left men at leisure to attend to 
other matters than those which usually engaged their 
thoughts. These circumstances should be taken into 
consideration, in explaining the causes of the growth of 
Harvard College at this period ; and, when all due 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 103 

allowance is made for thsm, there will remain a large 
surplus of increase and prosperity, which must be refer- 
red to the direct influence of the clear head, the warm 
heart, the genial manners, the wisdom, and the virtues 
of Dr. Kirkland. He commanded the respect of his 
associates, the ardent attachment of his friends, (and 
they were among the wisest and best men that ever 
formed part of our community,) and a peculiar sort of 
fondness, so to speak, of the students. Many an act of 
kindness, accompanied with the look and the word of 
kindness, touched the heart of the pupil, and bound it 
to the president, more strongly than anything but sym- 
pathetic interest can do ; and, amid all the turbulence 
which young men are so prone to show, and which 
they sometimes did show during his term of seventeen 
years, never did one student, under any circumstances, 
fail to exhibit outwardly the respect and love he could 
not but feel in his heart for the president, who was his 
friend and counsellor as well as his governor. 

The period of Dr. Kirkland's presidency must be 
considered a remarkable one in many particulars, which 
were honorable at once to him, to the officers associated 
with him, and to the community in which he lived. 
The number of students and of instructors was increased, 
and higher qualifications were required in both. There 
was more activity in the system of things ; by which the 
standard of scholarship was raised, and a general culti- 
vation of mind effected, which, though not unknown 
before at Cambridge, has, since Dr. Kirkland's time, 
come to be regarded as, in some considerable degree, 
characteristic of a Harvard education. There was, par- 



104 HISTORY OF 

ticularly, a marked improvement in the common style 
of English composition, attributable, no doubt, to the 
combined influence of the presence and example of 
several members of the immediate government, distin- 
guished for the felicity of their manner of writing, to 
the clear and brilliant thoughts, in clear and brilliant 
language, that abounded in Dr. Kirkland's discourses, 
and were listened to often enough to produce a sensible 
effect, and to the increased richness of the intellectual 
cultivation of the school. Thus, in the department of 
instruction, the president cooperated heartily and effect- 
ively with the other officers ; and the charm of his un- 
rivalled temper, and practical wisdom, smoothed every 
obstacle, and lightened every toil. 

In another sphere, he labored with those friends of 
the College who were not within its walls, but who pro- 
moted largely that development of the institution which 
has contributed to render his administration memorable. 
It cannot be doubted by any one who knows the history 
of the time, and looks over the list of benefactors to the 
College at this period, that the personal influence of 
the president was exerted, and was felt, in a most re- 
markable degree. Doubtless there was in the commu- 
nity a spirit of enlightened liberality, which needed only 
to be aroused and directed ; and it was precisely this 
which was done by Dr. Kirkland. No man contributed 
more, by precept and example, to excite a wise benev- 
olence ; and it was often turned towards the College by 
his counsel and influence. Some of his friends gave 
their personal exertions, and others communicated of 
their wealth, to promote the interests of education at 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 105 

Cambridge ; and he had the satisfaction of seeing the 
growth of the institution in ahnost every direction, as 
the result of the many and various efforts made in its 
behalf. New departments of instruction -were opened 
within the walls ; two new professional schools were 
connected with the College, one of them, with the aid 
of the especial efforts of Dr. Kirkland and his particular 
friends ; and a third, which had been founded earlier, 
was greatly extended. The apparatus for instruction 
was increased, and an important addition was made to 
the buildings. Private benefactions were multiplied ; 
and the legislature was induced, for the first time for 
nearly thirty years, to contribute a liberal sum of 
money to increase the means of education. The dona- 
tions and bequests, received during Dr. Kirkland's pres- 
idency, were so many and so large, greatly exceeding 
in amount those which have been received in any other 
period of seventeen years, and reaching the truly vast 
total of nearly four hundred thousand dollars, a great 
part of which was obtained by his personal efforts and 
influence, that he must be classed among the greatest 
pecuniary benefactors of the College. He was not sup- 
posed to be distinguished for financial ability ; but there 
was something in the elevation of his character and 
purposes, the wisdom of his designs, the benevolence of 
his heart, the suavity of his manners, and the contagion 
of his example, which commanded the resources of 
others, as if they had been his own ; and few men 
among us have had the control of larger possessions, or 
have used that control more wisely. 

The occurrences of his time, though generally of 



106 HISTORY OF 

SO encouraging a character, were not all of this agree- 
able nature ; but were occasionally well adapted to try 
the equanimity of the calmest temper, and the re- 
sources of the most sagacious judgment. The disci- 
pline was one source of difficulty, as it can scarcely 
fail to be at any time ; but more especially was this 
the case, at that period in the history of the country, 
which may be regarded as the transition epoch of the 
manners of the age. The sternness of the habits of 
the elder portion of mankind towards the younger had 
not passed away from the laws, so much as it had from 
the customs of the country ; and the change from the real, 
as well as the theoretic, authority of the old, to the 
practical influence of the young, was not likely to be 
effected without a struggle, however little doubt there 
might be as to the issue of the contest. It had begun 
before President Kirkland's day ; but was not brought 
to a close till long afterwards ; and was the origin of 
a great deal of annoyance to all the governors of the 
College, and of effervescence in the community, as 
well as in the academic halls, at frequent intervals, for 
many years. 

A still more serious evil was the revival of the con- 
troversy of the preceding century, respecting the or- 
ganization of the College, and the right to seats in the 
Corporation. It was impossible that this subject should 
be discussed without painful excitement ; and, though 
no man could have been more able to throw oil on the 
troubled waters than President Kirkland, yet it must be 
regarded as a calamity that the waves should be so 
rough as to require such an effort. The general grounds 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 107 

of argument on this subject have been stated, in refer- 
ence to the discussion which took place in President 
Leverett's time, and need not be repeated. 

Another trouble to the President, and to all inter- 
ested in the extension of the means of education, was 
in part the consequence of the growth of the College, 
which was so gratifying in other points of view, and 
which was the very object of efforts innumerable and 
unwearied. With the increase of officers, which was 
uncommonly rapid, there was an unavoidable increase 
of expense ; especially, as in the eagerness of all par- 
ties, both the founders of the offices, and the governors 
of the College, it frequently happened that a professor 
was appointed, when the funds destined for him were 
quite insufficient for his support, and the deficit was to 
be drawn from the charge for instruction to the students. 
Of course this charge was increased, till it became 
somewhat burdensome to all, and a heavy load to those 
whose circumstances were at all straitened. The class 
of persons who might be considered as in this condi- 
tion was large and deserving, as it usually is, and en- 
listed often, and strongly, the ready sympathy of the 
President. He distributed, with constant generosity, 
from his own income ; he presented particular cases of 
promise to his wealthy friends, and secured their as- 
sistance ; and, of course, he gladly availed himself of 
all the funds of the College which could be placed at 
his disposal for this purpose. From all these resources 
the amount he obtained and distributed was very con- 
siderable ; especially in the years during which the 
grant of ten thousand dollars per annum was received 



108 HISTORY OF 

from the legislature ;i and the good he effected, if not 
commensurate with his generous wish, was singularly- 
great, and the affection he inspired, as much by the 
manner as by the gift, was as enduring as the grateful 
recollection of his benignity. 

The professorships in which appointments were first 
made, during Dr. Kirkland's presidency, were — 

The Rumford Professorship, on the Application of 

Science to the Useful Arts ; 
The Smith Professorship of the French and Spanish 

Languages and Literature ; 
The Alford Professorship of Natural Religion, Moral 

Philosophy and Civil Polity ; 
The Eliot Professorship of the Greek Language and 

Literature, and 
The Royall Professorship of Law. 

Besides these, two others were founded, viz. : 

The McLean Professorship of Ancient and Modern 
History, and 

The Perkins Professorship of Astronomy and Mathe- 
matics. 

The Dexter Lectureship on Biblical Criticism was 
filled ; the Boylston Prizes for Elocution were founded ; 
and additional instruction was given to undergraduates 
in Chemistry, Mineralogy, Anatomy, Physiology, and 
Elocution. Material additions were made to the library, 
and to the cabinets belonging to the College. The 

1 One quarter part of the amount was appropriated by the act to 
the relief of indigent students. 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 109 

Medical School was greatly enlarged ; and, by its re- 
moval to Boston, the decisive step was taken, which 
insured its indefinite progress. The Law School, now 
one of the leading schools of the country, was estab- 
lished ; and the Theological School, the first in the 
United States on unexclusive principles, was founded, 
and placed in connection with the College. 

All this extension, on every side, necessarily im- 
plies a vast deal of zealous labor, in which many per- 
sons must have cooperated ; and it would be unwise, 
as well as unjust, to limit one's views, in accounting for 
it, to a single source of growth. The professors and 
the Corporation must have exerted themselves effectu- 
ally, each in his sphere ; and many of those in society, 
who possessed resources of wealth, must have been 
willing to be led in the useful path of a wise liberality, 
in order that such results should be obtained. But, 
while the whole must be regarded as the consequence 
of the combined labors and merits of many, the first 
place must be assigned to him who is entitled to it by 
the unanimous award of his contemporaries, who was 
regarded with a respect and affection never surpassed, 
and whose memory is cherished by multitudes as one 
of the precious recollections of their lives. 

The defects of Dr. Kirkland's character were neither 
of number nor of weight enough to justify, for a mo- 
ment, a forgetfulness of his virtues. The careless- 
ness which made him write his sermons upon mere 
scraps of paper, in an almost illegible hand, and the 
physical indolence which made him neglect to tran- 
scribe or arrange them, might excite a smile, rather 



110 HISTORY OF 

than provoke a frown ; and were sure to be forgotten, 
and forgiven, by those who listened, with impressible 
hearts to the lessons of wisdom and virtue with which 
his discourses were filled. And the College could well 
pardon inattention to matters of detail, in a president 
who did so much to raise the reputation of the institu- 
tion, who contributed so largely to its extension in every 
direction, who brought into its management so much 
intellectual vigor, and into its treasury so large an 
amount of substantial wealth. The previous history of 
the College, honorable as it is in its whole course, offers 
no parallel in brilliancy and usefulness to the presidency 
of Dr. Kirkland ; and the ambition of any future presi- 
dent may well be satisfied in attaining an equal eleva- 
tion of renown, an equal influence with the commu- 
nity, a like affectionate respect from his contempora- 
ries, and as strong and universal a love for his mem- 
ory in those who come after him. 

Dr. Kirkland's connection with the College was dis- 
solved in 1828 ; and he lived, for several years, in com- 
parative retirement, suffering from the effects of a par- 
tial paralysis, with powers of body and mind consider- 
ably impaired ; but with the same undisturbed and 
delightful temper, and with an occasional flash of those 
clear and profound thoughts, that intellectual humor, 
and those generous affections, which, in previous years, 
had been the delight of all who knew him. His de- 
cease was attended by every circumstance that could 
mark the deep interest of the public, and prove the 
existence of those sentiments of reverence and love 
which pervaded the hearts of all. 



HARVARD COLLEGE. Ill 

The history of the College can be pursued no far- 
ther. The improvements, the extension, and the pa- 
tronage of the institution, the talent engaged in its 
service, and the devotion of a portion of the disposa- 
ble wealth of the community to its interests, have all 
been witnessed as heretofore ; and there is as much 
reason to be hopeful for the future as to be grateful for 
the past. But the present time has been, perhaps, too 
nearly approached. The remainder must be left to the 
memory, and the fidelity, of those who succeed us in 
maintaining one of the most important, and most hon- 
orable, institutions of the country. 

It may be useful, however, to close with a statement 
of the actual condition of the College, and of the schools 
connected with it ; in order that those who are not per- 
sonally familiar with the seminary, may form a judg- 
ment of the means and advantages for education which 
it offers, and that some errors with regard to its organ- 
ization and resources, which have prevailed very gen- 
erally, may, if possible, be corrected. 

Harvard College, or University, as it is sometimes, 
though not with strict propriety, called, is one institu- 
tion, but is divided into five quite distinct departments, 
which have separate instructors,^ separate funds, differ- 
ent pupils, and different objects. These are the academ- 
ical department, or Harvard College as originally con- 
stituted, and the Theological, Law, Medical, and Scien- 
tific Schools, which have been gathered around it. 
They are all under the general management of one 
board, of seven members, called legally " The President 
* In a few instances the same person teaches in two departments. 



112 HISTORY OF 

and Fellows of Harvard College," subject to the visitato- 
rial power of the Board of Overseers, which consists of 
the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Council, and Sen- 
ate of the Commonwealth, and of fifteen clerical and 
fifteen lay members, who are chosen for life, or until 
they resign their office. The funds, which have been 
given for the support of these various schools, have been 
placed in the hands of the Corporation, as the President 
and Fellows are commonly called. That board has 
also the power of appointing all officers, of every de- 
scription, subject, of course, to the approval of the 
Overseers ; and they are bound to prescribe the gen- 
eral rules by which each department is to be governed, 
and to see that they are carried into effect. 

Young men are admitted, when qualified by a pre- 
scribed amount of literary attainments, into the aca- 
demical department, at about the average age of six- 
teen ; and they pursue the usual course of a four years' 
college education, under the immediate instruction of 
seven professors and four tutors, who teach the learned 
languages, mathematics, natural philosophy, meta- 
physics, moral philosophy, rhetoric and elocution, the 
evidences of religion, both natural and revealed, po- 
litical economy, and the modern languages.^ Besides 
these branches, which are taught by recitations and lec- 
tures, and by exercises in-composition and declamation, 
the undergraduates are required, or have the opportu- 
nity, to hear lectures on Chemistry, History, Anatomy, 

* For instruction in the modern languages, four especial teachers, to 
whom the principal languages of Europe are native, have been em- 
ployed for some years. 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 113 

Mineralogy, Botany, Astronomy, the application of 
Science to the useful Arts, and on the means of pre- 
serving health. Besides attending the lectures, they 
may give such an amount of time and attention to these 
various subjects, as can be spared from the studies 
which call for more steady and devoted application. 
During the first two years all the studies are prescribed, 
and a pretty thorough knowledge is obtained of Greek, 
Latin, and Mathematics ; and the study of History, 
Rhetoric, Metaphysics, Chemistry, ancT^odern Lan- 
guages is begun. 

In the last two years of College life the pursuit of the 
higher branches of mathematics, and the attainment of 
critical skill in the ancient languages, together with fur- 
ther acquaintance with the modern languages, are made 
elective studies ; and the others which have been enu- 
merated are continued, in order to complete what is re- 
garded as necessary for the foundation of those acquire- 
ments, and those habits of mind, which are indispen- 
sable to all who desire to be considered as cultivated or 
well educated men, in the present age of the world. 
In the regular course prescribed nothing more is at- 
tempted, as nothing more can be done, than to lay the 
foundation of actual knowledge, and impart the power 
of future acquisition ; while opportunity is offered, at 
the same time, for the discovery of any of those partic- 
ular tastes, or powers, the existence of which points 
out the course for which some persons are particularly 
prepared by their Maker. With this view it may be 
thought not unwise, that so great a variety of studies 
should be presented to the young men ; for, though it 
8 



114 HISTORY OF 

is quite impossible that their education should be thor- 
ough and extensive in all of them, yet a few members 
of every class may find that they have a turn for one 
kind of pursuit, and a few for another, which would 
never have been discovered, but for the opportunity here 
offered. This system seems peculiarly well adapted to a 
country like this, where every man's faculties are stim- 
ulated by the hope of success and distinction, to which 
there are no artificial checks. If he has uncommon 
powers he wants to know it ; and there is no better 
way to enable him, or others, to discover their existence, 
than by giving him, in youth, an opportunity to try sev- 
eral of the different kinds of cultivation for which he 
may be fitted. The plan pursued has been the result, 
not so much of deliberate design on the part of the 
governors of the College, as of circumstances, and of 
the desire of numerous benefactors of the institution to 
provide instruction on their favorite subjects. The con- 
sequence is a great variety of studies, mixed in, as well 
as can be expected, perhaps, with the systematic course 
which must be contemplated by all who design to give a 
thorough education. A bequest of fifty thousand dollars 
has recently been made, though it is not yet in possession 
of the College, to enable it to support and educate, in 
the most suitable and thorough manner, any young 
person who may discover rare powers, in any depart- 
ment of mental activity, even before the usual age of 
entering College. The application of this fund will, no 
doubt, afford examples hereafter, both of distinguished 
success, and of occasional disappointment. 
Young men within the College walls are incited 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 115 

to good conduct and diligence, by the system of 
awarding parts, as they are called, at the exhibitions 
which take place each year, and at the annual Com- 
mencement. The rank of these parts shows the posi- 
tion in the class of those who receive them, reference 
being had as well to general character and deportment, 
as to scholarship. They are assigned by the faculty 
according to a scale of marks kept by each officer, 
pointing out the quality of recitations, the number of 
absences, &c., and the aggregate of all the marks de- 
cides the rank of the scholar. 

Good conduct is also encouraged by presents of 
books, of standard value, to meritorious young men in 
the second year ; the fund for which is a bequest of 
Edward Hopkins. Particular efforts are induced by 
the offer of prizes for dissertations in English, derived 
from the income of a fund given for this purpose by 
Governor Bowdoin ; and an addition has been recently 
made of prizes for Latin verse, from the same fund, 
which has increased sufficiently to permit this extension. 
Prizes for elocution are also distributed, annually, from 
the fund left by Ward N. Boylston, Esq. Among the 
means which have long been found efficient in stimu- 
lating young men to steady exertion, should be enu- 
merated the various societies existing in the different 
classes, to which admission is to be obtained only by 
maintaining a good rank as a scholar ; no slight auxil- 
iary, certainly, to the distinctions awarded by the gov- 
ernment. 

Four of the College buildings are occupied by the 
undergraduates as lodgings, and afford accommodation 



116 HISTORY OF 

for about half of their number. Four other buildings 
are used for public purposes. Harvard Hall contains 
a lecture-room, the cabinet of minerals and shells, with 
a few fossils, and a large room for Commencement din- 
ners, and other occasions on which the alumni assemble. 
In this room are the portraits of some of the officers 
and benefactors of the institution. Holden Chapel is 
converted into lecture-rooms, used at present for the 
lectures on anatomy and chemistry. University Hall 
contains the chapel and several recitation and lecture- 
rooms. Gore Hall contains the library, amounting to 
about fifty- four thousand volumes. 

The funds which have been given for the support of 
the academical department, which is the earliest of the 
schools here established, the original and true Harvard 
College, are the following : 

Funds given by various persons towards the payment of 
the salaries of Professors, and maintaining the Botanic 

Garden, $279,713.44 

Funds appropriated to the Library, 16,549.43 

Funds for prizes, - . 7,610.50 

Funds for exhibitions, or aid to indigent students, . . 28,788.81 
The stock account, or general fund derived from unre- 
sti'icted donations, and from occasional balances. The 
actual value of this fund at the present time does not 
exceed 140,000.00 

Total, .... $472,662.18 



The income of this sum, at five per cent, per annum, 
which is as much as can be obtained, on an average of 
years, is $23,633.11 ; whereas the annual expenses of 
the College now exceed $40,000. It will be observed 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 117 

that more than $330,000 are appropriated, by the do- 
nors, to salaries of professors, the library, prizes, and 
exhibitions ; while, besides these objects, there are sala- 
ries to be provided for many other necessary officers, 
and funds for repairs, and unavoidable expenses of 
various descriptions ; so that it can be no matter of 
wonder to any one who considers the facts, that an an- 
nual deficiency of about $20,000 is to be made up by 
a tax on the students. This is about $75 or 880 each ; 
and if it were by itself, not mingled with other charges 
necessarily incurred, in consequence of the removal of 
the young man from the paternal roof, it would by no 
means be regarded as excessive, for the amount of 
instruction obtained. Good schools, in many parts of 
the country, for younger persons than undergraduates, 
often cost as much, and even more. It is undoubtedly 
burdensome to many, and for that reason the importance 
of the beneficiary fund is very great ; and the advantage 
derived from it, as well as from another fund in the hands 
of trustees for a like purpose, is inestimable. But it is 
easy to see that so large an apparatus of officers and 
buildings can hardly be maintained at less cost ; and that 
the best way in which the liberally-disposed can now 
serve the interests of education at Cambridge, is by un- 
restricted donations. 

It should be seen, also, that the pecuniary resources 
of the College, properly so called, instead of amounting, 
as is supposed by many persons who take a hasty 
glance at the annual statement of the treasurer, to 
nearly $800,000, in reality amount only to the above- 
named sum of i 472,000 ; and even from this a large 



118 HISTORY OF 

deduction should be made, on account of property of 
an unproductive nature held by the College. In fact, 
the productive funds of the seminary do not exceed 
$390,000. 

The discipline which has been maintained in Harvard 
College, for the last forty years, can scarcely fail to be 
considered, and will probably be admitted by all, ex- 
cept, perhaps, some of those who have become unfor- 
tunately amenable to it, or their friends, to be the mild- 
est which is at all consistent with the assembling, and 
constant association, of two or three hundred young 
men, at the time of life suitable for the serious purpose 
of education. The irksomeness of the process, which 
cannot always be overcome by the perception of its ne- 
cessity, combines with the vigorous current of animal 
life, to produce occasional displays of a vivacious na- 
ture ; and though these may not show any great depth 
of depravity, yet, as they are undeniably " of a bad 
and dangerous tendency," and interrupt the proper 
business of the place, some restraint must be put upon 
the few who cannot control themselves, for the sake of 
the greater number who can. It would be difficult to 
show how a milder system could be pursued than has 
long been adopted ; and, in fact, the occasional com- 
plaints which are heard from sufferers, are generally 
directed not against the form, or degree, of punishment, 
but against the finding of the facts in the particular 
case. The punishment is rarely considered too great 
for the offence, but the victim is not the offender. Or, 
if that cannot be denied, then palliating circumstances 
affect the parent, or relative, much more deeply than 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 119 

the officers ; and nothing but an unnecessary sternness 
on their pari, can account for the infliction of any pun- 
ishment at all. While such are the complaints respect- 
ing the Cambridge system of discipline, impartial ob- 
servers will not be prompt to decide, that it is too strict, 
or too severe. 

The first separate school which was connected with 
Harvard College was the Medical School, for which 
the earliest donation was given in 1772, by Dr. Ezekiel 
Hersey, and in which the first appointment of a professor 
was made in 1783. Other donations and appointments 
soon followed, and the school began to be well known, 
and esteemed, as early as the beginning of the present 
century. Dr. Warren, the first professor of Anatomy 
and Surgery, resided in Boston, and gave a portion 
of his lectures in the city. The nature of the study 
made this an almost inevitable practice ; both from the 
facilities for instruction which might be better obtained 
there, and from the importance of securing the services 
of the most eminent men of the profession, who would 
naturally be found in the largest town. The school 
was considered, however, as situated in Cambridge ; 
and undergraduates, as well as professional students, 
were permitted to attend the lectures given at the Col- 
lege, for a fee somewhat less than other persons. After 
the establishment of a hospital of considerable extent 
in Boston, the advantages to be obtained there by the 
student, in every department of the profession, were 
manifestly so much greater than could be procured at 
Cambridge, that a strong effort was made by the pro- 
fessors to cause the removal of the institution to Boston, 



120 HISTORY OF 

with the consent and aid of the Corporation. It was 
thought by some persons that this was inexpedient, as 
regarded the welfare of the College ; and of doubtful 
propriety, considering that the seminary was in Cam- 
bridge, and the donations for medical purposes were 
made to the College. It was said, however, in re- 
ply, that the welfare of the general institution would 
be best consulted by having regard to the welfare of 
each part, and by placing each where it could enjoy 
the greatest advantages, at once for growth and im- 
provement ; and that the donations were made to the 
governors of the College, and not to a mere incorporeal 
personification ; that the Corporation were expected to 
exercise a sound discretion in the application of the 
funds to the purpose pointed out ; and in one case, at 
least, express provision was made by the donor, for 
applying the fund to a professorship elsewhere, if the 
Corporation deemed it advisable. The latter views 
prevailed.^ An application was made to the legisla- 
ture for aid ; and through the strenuous efforts of the 
medical professors, in conjunction with those of the pres- 
ident, and some members of the Corporation, a portion 
of the large grant made in 1814 was appropriated to the 
purpose of erecting the Medical College in Mason street, 
Boston. From that epoch the growth and prosperity of 
the school has been uninterrupted ; and at the present 

1 As an inducement to the government to consent to the removal of 
the school to Boston, the professors agreed to deliver, without charge 
to the undergraduates, a portion of the lectures heretofore given in 
Cambridge, vi^hich the undergraduates had been permitted to attend, 
on payment of a fee. 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 121 

time, lectures, of the highest value, are given every 
year, by seven professors in different departments, and 
the students have every advantage which can be de- 
rived from attendance on the hospital practice. The 
liberal scientific spirit of Dr. J. C. Warren has been 
shown, by his placing in the school an extensive 
anatomical cabinet, containing the donations of Dr. 
Nichols, formerly of London, and others, and a large 
number of preparations by himself. Valuable additions 
have already been made to this collection by Dr. Hay- 
ward and Dr. Lawrence. A fund has been given by 
Dr. Warren for its preservation and increase, and it is 
probable that a few years will produce a museum which 
will bear a not unfavorable comparison with the best 
which can be found elsewhere. A new building, on 
land given by Dr. G. Parkman, far more extensive than 
the former one in Mason street, has been erected for 
the purposes of this school, in the immediate vicinity 
of the hospital ; and nothing now seems wanting to the 
rapid and great increase of the number of pupils, but 
a more general acquaintance with the advantages 
offered by the means of instruction accumulated, and 
the talents and experience of the professors. 

Degrees are given to those who, after attendance 
on two courses of lectures, one of which must have 
been in this school, shall be found, upon examination, 
properly qualified. A dissertation on a medical sub- 
ject is required from each student who is a candi- 
date for a degree. The fees charged are $3 for ma- 
triculation, $80 for the full course of lectures, and $20 
for graduation. 



122 HISTORY OF 

The Law School dates, strictly, from the year 1817, 
when Professor Stearns was appointed to take charge 
of students who might choose to pursue their profes- 
sional course at Cambridge, and avail themselves of 
his instruction, and of the incidental advantages to be 
found there. Chief Justice Parker was, indeed, ap- 
pointed the preceding year, but did not reside at Cam- 
bridge, and gave only a partial attention to the instruc- 
tion of members of the school. 'It was principally, 
therefore, to the care and learning of Mr. Stearns, that 
it was indebted for its earliest success. In 1829, an im- 
pulse of great importance w^as given to this department, 
by the appointment of Judge Story and Mr. Ashmun to 
take charge of it. After four years of valued service, 
Mr. Ashmun was removed by death from the station 
which he honored, and his place was supplied by Pro- 
fessor Greenleaf. Under the joint administration of 
Professors Story and Greenleaf, the school continued 
to extend in numbers, importance, and resources, for 
about twelve years ; and since the death of Judge 
Story, it has maintained its position under the care of 
Professor Greenleaf, and, for one year, of Judge Kent, 
who has been succeeded by Judge Parker, of New 
Hampshire. 

The course of instruction in this school is not unlike 
that pursued in other establishments of the kind. The 
reading of the students is directed by the professors, 
who examine into the results of study, and the attain- 
ments made by their pupils ; lectures are delivered 
upon the most important branches of law, following in 
general the course of some text book ; and moot courts 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 123 

are held, under the direction of the professors. An 
attendance of eighteen months, or three terms, is re- 
quired for a degree. The library belonging to this 
school is very valuable, numbering about twelve thou- 
sand volumes, and having cost, without including large 
donations, more than $35,000. The Law School is 
now so extensively known, and its direct and incidental 
advantages are so highly appreciated, it has so long 
maintained an elevated rank, and the prospect of its 
continuing in a similar position is so favorable, that it 
may be considered as well established in public favor. 
The annual fee paid for all its advantages is one hun- 
dred dollars. The funds appropriated to the Law 
School amount to 141,855.76, a large portion of which 
has accumulated from its own resources. It has also 
paid the sum mentioned above, for its library. At a 
future period this department will have the advantage 
to be derived from the great bequest of the late Mr. 
Bussey, which will probably afford the means of ap- 
pointing two additional professors. 

The Theological School first began to be spoken of, 
as a separate institution, at about the time when the 
Law School commenced its career. Instruction in 
theology had, for a long period, perhaps from the foun- 
dation of the College, been given to graduates ; at first 
by the president, and at a later date by the Hollis pro- 
fessor, or by the two together; but, in 1816, an effort 
was made to extend the means of this instruction, and 
a society was formed for the purpose of " promoting 
theological education in Harvard College." Something 
was effected at that time ; a considerable sum was raised 



124 HISTORY OF 

by subscription, and placed in the hands of trustees ; 
but more was done by the reputation of the Hollis pro- 
fessor, and the Dexter lecturer. An increased number 
of students in this department, or resident graduates, as 
they were called, soon began to appear ; and after a 
few years, another effort was made by the friends of 
the College, and of Unitarian Christianity, and some- 
what more than money enough was obtained to erect a 
separate building for the use of the school. Gradually 
the funds for the support of the institution have been 
growing, till they now amount to upwards of $84,000, 
and two professors have charge of from twenty to thirty 
pupils. 

It has happened, singularly enough, that the connec- 
tion of this school with the College has been thought 
disadvantageous by the especial friends of both institu- 
tions. The patrons of the school have thought it to 
be harmed by its union with the College, and the par- 
ticular friends of the academic department have thought 
this to be injuriously affected by having a Unitarian 
school associated with it. An injury to its reputation, 
with other denominations of Christians, it may have 
been ; but, as the reciprocal influence of the school 
and College on each other is practically nothing, it 
seems impossible that the real character of either should 
suffer by the connection. The Theological School has 
no more direct influence on the College than the Law 
School — not so much, indeed, — and it seems to be 
forgotten by many persons, that the only connection 
between them, as between any other two departments, 
is, that they are under the general direction of the 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 125 

same board, the Corporation. There is little or no 
association between the students in any two depart- 
ments, and the funds are entirely distinct. Not a dol- 
lar given to the College has ever gone to the Theo- 
logical School ; and it may safely be predicted that 
none ever will go. 

The annual charge for instruction is low, being less 
than $70, while there are considerable funds for the 
aid of indigent students. Three years are deemed 
necessary for a proper course of preparation for the 
duties of the profession. The bequest of Mr. Bussey 
will probably afford to this school, as well as to the law 
department, the means of supporting two more pro- 
fessors. 

The Scientific School is the last which has been 
established in connection with the College, and indeed 
its existence is of so very recent a date, that less can 
be said of its actual condition than of its design, and 
the intentions of those who have contributed to create, 
and who will labor to direct it. It is proposed that 
systematic instruction shall here be given in physical 
and exact science generally, and in those branches 
more especially, which are particularly necessary for 
the better development of the resources of the country, 
and the cultivation of those faculties of the mind ap- 
propriate to that pursuit, in which Americans are cer- 
tainly not deficient. It has, for a long time, been the 
wish of some of the professors of the academic de- 
partment, that an effort should be made to establish a 
school of science of this kind ; and no one can doubt 
its adaptation to the condition of the country, nor the 



126 HISTORY OF 

facilities for conducting it which Harvard College affords. 
More than one of the professors has time at his dis- 
posal, entirely free from any duty to the undergradu- 
ates, which he could, with propriety, devote to the in- 
struction of more advanced pupils ; and of these it is 
presumed that many will be found ready and anxious 
to avail themselves of the opportunity, and to pay the 
moderate fee which will be requisite to support the 
school. 

If anything be necessary to prove the adaptation of 
the plan to the state of the country, it may be found in 
the alacrity with which Mr. Lawrence, a gentleman not 
only of wealth, but of discernment, came forward, as 
soon as the project was made known to him, to promote 
the scheme by a rare liberality towards a branch of it 
which was provided with neither funds nor professors. 
He has founded two professorships, viz. : those of En- 
gineering and of Geology, and has given funds for the 
erection of two buildings, one of which is to be the labor- 
atory and lecture room of the professor of chemistry, 
while the other is to contain the lecture rooms and col- 
lections of the professors of geology and engineering. 
Another proof of the fitness of the times for the plan of 
promoting the cultivation of science, was the readiness 
with which a subscription of twenty-five thousand dol- 
lars for a telescope and observatory was filled up. 
Astronomy is one of the studies to be pursued in the 
Scientific School, and the late splendid bequest of one 
hundred thousand dollars to this department, by Mr. 
Edward B. Phillips, secures to the College the means 
of cultivating that science. 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 127 

With such assistance from the generous, and with 
the aid of the accomphshed men who have already- 
taken places as professors in the school, it is impossible 
not to indulge in pleasing anticipations of the useful- 
ness and reputation of this department, and conse- 
quently of the interest that will be more and more 
widely felt in the prosperity and progress of Harvard 
College, which we have traced, in brief outline, from 
the earliest settlement of Massachusetts to the present 
time. 

The contrast between what it was in 1642, and what 
it is in 1848, is striking. The first four classes con- 
sisted of twenty pupils, and the instructors were the 
president and, perhaps, a tutor or two. There was a 
single building for the accommodation of the entire 
institution, and somewhat less than three acres of land 
constituted the whole of its fixed property. At this 
moment, the pupils, in all the departments, number 
six hundred, with a good prospect of increase ; the in- 
structors are twenty-three professors, four tutors, and 
three teachers of the modern languages. Besides 
these, are two astronomical observers, two librarians, 
and various other oihcers of government, of account, 
and of record. The buildings are thirteen in Cam- 
bridge, including the Observatory, and one in Boston, and 
another is to be immediately erected in Cambridge. 
The enclosure in which are situated the greater number 
of the buildings, contains twenty-three or twenty-four 
acres, and the institution possesses, besides, various 
pieces of real estate in the chies of Cambridge and Bos- 
ton. Its other property, for the purposes of all the de- 



128 HISTORY OF 

partments, amounts to about seven hundred thousand 
dollars. 

There is nothing more striking in the character of 
the College, throughout its whole history, and especially 
in its later years of development and expansion, than 
the ease with which, from its organization, and its un- 
observed influence over reflecting minds, it is enabled 
speedily to adapt itself to the varying and growing 
wants of the public. Its organization is a singular 
specimen of skill and good fortune combined. It is 
sufficiently under direct responsibility to the commu- 
nity, through the large and constantly changing Board 
of Overseers ; it is sufficiently steady in its course of 
action, from the comparatively slow changes which 
take place in the Corporation. It is eflicient in instruc- 
tion, from securing the services of leading minds in 
every branch of knowledge ; and it is tolerably sure of 
future growth, from the influence it has justly acquired 
in the community by its usefulness. As long as it 
shall retain this power of adaptation to the public wants, 
as long as knowledge shall be desired, freedom valued, 
religion and virtue reverenced, may Harvard College 
continue to perform its appropriate duties, bestow and 
receive its appropriate honors, be cherished by the 
public, and live in the hearts of its alumni. 



APPENDIX 



THE ACT ESTABLISHING THE OVERSEEKS OF HARVARD 
COLLEGE. 

" At a General Court held at Boston, in the year 
1642. 

" Whereas, through the good hand of God upon us, 
there is a College founded in Cambridge, in the county 
of Middlesex, called Harvard College, for the en- 
couragement whereof this Court has given the sum of 
four hundred pounds, and also the revenue of the ferry 
betwixt Charlestown and Boston, and that the well 
ordering and managing of the said College is of great 
concernment ; 

" It is therefore ordered by this Court, and the au- 
thority thereof, that the Governor and Deputy Governor 
for the time being, and all the magistrates of this juris- 
diction, together with the teaching elders of the six 
next adjoining towns, viz. Cambridge, Watertown, 
Charlestown, Boston, Roxbury, and Dorchester, and 
the President of the said College for the time being, 
shall, from time to time, have full power and authority 
to make and establish all such orders, statutes, and 
constitutions, as they shall see necessary for the insti- 
tuting, guiding, and furthering of the said College, and 
9 



130 APPENDIX. 

the several members thereof, from time to time, in piety, 
morality, and learning ; as also to dispose, order, and 
manage, to the use and behoof of the said College, and 
the members thereof, all gifts, legacies, bequeaths, 
revenues, lands, and donations, as either have been, 
are, or shall be, conferred, bestowed, or any ways shall 
fall, or come, to the said College. 

" And whereas it may come to pass, that many of 
the said magistrates and said elders may be absent, 
or otherwise employed about other weighty affairs, 
when the said College may need their present help and 
counsel, — It is therefore ordered, that the greater num- 
ber of said magistrates and elders, which shall be pres- 
ent, with the President, shall have the power of the 
whole. Provided, that if any constitution, order, or 
orders, by them made, shall be found hurtful to the said 
College, or the members thereof, or to the weal-public, 
then, upon appeal af the party or parties grieved, unto 
the company of Overseers, first mentioned, they- shall 
repeal the said order, or orders, if they shall see cause, 
at their next meeting, or stand accountable thereof to 
the next General Court." 



THE CHARTER OF THE PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF 
HARVARD COLLEGE, UNDER THE SEAL OF THE COL- 
ONY OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY, AND BEARING DATE, 
MAY 31ST, A. D. 1650. 

" Whereas, through the good hand of God, many well- 
devoted persons have been, and daily are, moved, and 
stirred up, to give and bestow, sundry gifts, legacies, 
lands, and revenues, for the advancement of all good lit- 
erature, arts, and sciences, in Harvard College, in Cam- 
bridge in the county of Middlesex, and to the mainte- 
nance of the President and Fellows, and for all accom- 
modations of buildings, and all other necessary pro- 



APPENDIX. 131 

visions, that may conduce to the education of the 
English and Indian youth of this country, in knowledge 
and godliness. 

" It is therefore ordered and enacted by this Court, 
and the authority thereof, that for the furthering of so 
good a work, and for the purposes aforesaid, from 
henceforth, that the said College, in Cambridge in Mid- 
dlesex, in New England, shall be a Corporation, con- 
sisting of seven persons, to wit, a President, five Fel- 
lows, and a Treasurer or Bursar ; and that Henry 
Dunster shall be the first President ; Samuel Mather, 
Samuel Danforth, Masters of Art, Jonathan Mitchell, 
Comfort Starr, and Samuel Eaton, Bachelors of Art, 
shall be the five Fellows ; and Thomas Danforth to be 
present Treasurer, all of them being inhabitants in the 
Bay, and shall be the first seven persons of which the 
said Corporation shall consist ; and that the said seven 
persons, or the greater number of them, procuring the 
presence of the Overseers of the College, and by their 
counsel and consent, shall have power, and are hereby 
authorized, at any time, or times, to elect a new Presi- 
dent, Fellows, or Treasurer, so oft, and from time to 
time, as any of the said persons shall die, or be re- 
moved ; which said President and Fellows, for the time 
being, shall for ever hereafter, in name and fact, be 
one body politic and corporate in law, to all intents and 
purposes ; and shall have perpetual succession ; and 
shall be called by the name of President and Fellows 
of Harvard College, and shall, from time to time, be 
eligible as aforesaid, and by that name they, and their 
successors, shall and may purchase and acquire to 
themselves, or take and receive upon free gift and do- 
nation, any lands, tenements, or hereditaments, within 
this jurisdiction of the Massachusetts, not exceeding 
five hundred pounds per annum, and any goods and 
sums of money whatsoever, to the use and behoof of 
the said President, Fellows, and scholars of the said 
College ; and also may sue and plead, or be sued and 



132 APPENDIX. 

impleaded by the name aforesaid, in all Courts and 
places of judicature, within the jurisdiction aforesaid. 

*' And that the said President, with any three of the 
Fellows, shall have power, and are hereby authorized, 
when they shall think fit, to make and appoint a com- 
mon seal for the use of the said Corporation. And the 
President and Fellows, or major part of them, from 
time to time, may meet and choose such officers and 
servants for the College, and make such allowance to 
them, and them also to remove, and after death, or 
removal, to choose such others, and to make, from time 
to time, such orders and by-laws, for the better order- 
ing, and carrying on the work of the College, as they 
shall think fit ; provided, the said orders be allowed by 
the Overseers. And also, that the President and Fel- 
lows, or major part of them with the Treasurer, shall 
have power to make conclusive bargains for lands and 
tenements, to be purchased by the said Corporation, for 
valuable consideration. 

" And for the better ordering of the government of 
the said College and Corporation, Be it enacted by the 
authority aforesaid, that the President, and three more of 
the Fellows, shall and may, from time to time, upon due 
warning or notice given by the President to the rest, hold 
a meetmg, for the debating and concluding of affairs con- 
cerning the profits and revenues of any lands, and dis- 
posing of their goods (provided that all the said dis- 
posings be according to the will of the donors) ; and 
for direction in all emergent occasions ; execution of 
all orders and by-laws ; and for the procuring of a gen- 
eral meeting of all the Overseers and Society, in great 
and difficult cases ; and in case of non-agreement ; in 
all which cases aforesaid, the conclusion shall be made 
by the major part, the said President having a casting 
voice, the Overseers consenting thereunto ; and that all 
the aforesaid transactions shall tend to and for the use and 
behoof of the President, Fellows, scholars, and officers 
of the said College, and for all accommodations of 



APPENDIX. 133 

buildings, books, and all other necessary provisions and 
furnitures, as may be for the advancement and educa- 
tion of youth, in all manner of good literature, arts, 
and sciences. And further, be it ordered by this Court, 
and the authority thereof, that all the lands, tenements, 
and hereditaments, houses, or revenues, within this juris- 
diction, to the aforesaid President or College appertain- 
ing, not exceeding the value of five hundred pounds 
per annum, shall, from henceforth, be freed from all 
civil impositions, taxes, and rates ; all goods to the said 
Corporation, or to any scholars thereof appertaining, 
shall be exempted from all manner of toll, customs, and 
excise whatsoever. And that the said President, Fel- 
lows, and scholars, together with the servants, and other 
necessary officers to the said President, or College ap- 
pertaining, not exceeding ten, viz. three to the Presi- 
dent, and seven to the College belonging, shall be ex- 
empted from all personal civil offices, military exer- 
cises, or services, watchings, and wardings ; and such 
of their estates, not exceeding one hundred pounds a 
man, shall be free from all country taxes or rates what- 
soever, and no other. 

" In witness whereof, the Court hath caused the seal 
of the colony to be hereunto affixed. Dated the one 
and thirtieth day of the third month, called May, anno 
1650. 

r -, Thomas Dudley, Governor.^"* 

[l. s.] 

[A copy of the original, engrossed on parchment, 
under the signature of Governor Dudley, with the col- 
ony seal appendant, is in the custody of the President 
and Fellows of Harvard College.] 



134 APPENDIX. 



FAMILY OF REV. JOHN HARVARD. 

As every particular connected, however remotely, 
with the name and memory of this distinguished man, 
possesses a profound interest for all who have derived 
benefit from his wise liberality, it will not be inappro- 
priate to mention the facts that the name and the family 
still exist in England ; and that those who claim con- 
nection with our founder, are in positions not unbecom- 
ing their honorable origin. 

A correspondence has been carried on between Presi- 
dent Everett, and a gentleman who now bears the 
name of John Harvard, who is a Dissenter, and a min- 
ister of the Wesleyan Church, for the purpose of ascer- 
taining, if possible, some farther particulars of the life 
of him who gave that name its celebrity. But the ob- 
scurity is irremediable. The traditions of the family go 
no farther back than to 1680, forty-two years after the 
death of our John Harvard. President Everett has 
kindly permitted the insertion of the following extracts 
from an interesting letter addressed to him, dated Ply- 
mouth, England, August 31, 1847 : 

" It has indeed been a high satisfaction to me to be 
certified more fully than before, of the eminent esteem 
in which the name of my venerable ancestor is held in 
the United States, and to have the history of the insti- 
tution which, by the grace of God, he was enabled to 
establish. I desire, in behalf of myself and family, to 
return you our best thanks for the pleasing and accu- 
rate information on these subjects, of which your kind- 
ness, and that of the Fellows of your College, have put 
us in possession. For myself, I regret that I am not 
more worthy of the honored name which, more fully 
than any member of my family, I bear. 



APPENDIX. 135 

" I am thankful to possess more precise and accurate 
information respecting your founder, than was furnished 
by our family traditions. You will not wonder, how- 
ever, that our information is both scarce and vague, when 
you consider the following facts, which, as a member 
of the family, I regard with some interest. 1. We 
have nothing at all to help us of a documentary kind. 
2. My grandfather, from whom all our information has 
been derived, and who died about four years ago, was 
an only child, and was born some months after the 
death of his father. 3. We have made every inquiry 
in our power, and never been able to find any person 
not of our immediate family bearing the name of 
' Harvard.' It seems as if the fatal disease, which 
removed your venerable founder to his reward, had ad- 
hered to the family from his day to the present ; allow- 
ing the name to be transmitted only in one line to the 
members of the family now living. By consumption, 
in its incipient or matured forms, 1 have been bereaved 
of five brothers and three sisters. 

" I have enclosed a memorandum of the family, 
which is, perhaps, somewhat more definite than that 
which was conveyed to you by Mr. Somerby, and which 
may not be uninteresting. 

" I regret that no portrait of ' John Harvard ' has 
descended to us ; otherwise we should have had much 
pleasure in transmitting to you at least a copy of it. 

" Apologizing for the length of this communication, 
which is to be ascribed to the kindness with which it 
has been invited, I remain, with much respect, 

Your obedient servant, 

John Harvard." 

The following is the memorandum above referred 
to: 



136 APPENDIX. 



TABLE OF GENEALOGY. 

The family tradition reaches as far back as 1680, or 
about forty-two years after the death of John Harvard, 
the founder of Harvard College. 

John Harvard was born about the year 1680. 

His son, John Harvard, was born in 1709, and re- 
sided at Somerton. 

His son, John Harvard, was born in 1739, and re- 
sided at Bristol. He was married to Edith Hayard, 
of Bath, in 1760, and died in the following year, just 
before the birth of 

His son, John Harvard, who was born in Bristol, in 
the year 1761, and died in August, 1843, aged 82. In 
1789, he was married to Mary Otley, of London, who 
still survives, and by whom he had these four sons, now 
living : 

1. William Martin Harvard, born 1790. He is a 
Wesleyan minister, now residing at Maidstone, in Kent; 
having just returned from a mission in behalf of the 
Wesleyan church in Western Canada. He has three 
sons, who are Wesleyan ministers, viz. : Henry Moore, 
Midsomer Norton, Somersetshire ; George Clough, 
Bridgewater, Somersetshire ; Stephen Parks, Penrith, 
Cumberland. He has five other sons, the eldest of whom 
is now in the United States, but it is not known where. 

2. John Harvard, born in 1792. Holds office under 
the Corporation of London. Has one son, John, born 
1819 ; now a Wesleyan minister, Plymouth, Devon. 

3. Henry Moore Harvard, born 1805. In the civil 
service of the Honorable East India Company at Ben- 
ares. He has no son. 

Samuel Hayard Harvard, born 1807. Residing at 
Stoke, near Norwich. He has one son, Robert, born 
1829. 



APPENDIX. 137 

By the above statement it appears that there are now 
living fourteen males who bear the name of Harvard ; — 
two, my father and myself, who have the name of John 
Harvard. 

As I think I mentioned before, we judge ourselves 
to be descended from William, the brother of your 
founder ; but we can speak with no approach to cer- 
tainty of anything more than the above. 

(Signed) John Harvard. 

Plymouth, August 31st, 1847. 

The following is a copy of a memorandum of the 
admission of Harvard to Emanuel College, Oxford : 

1627. Job : Harvard P. Dec. 19 — Mid —A.M. 35. 

Another is as follows : 

1628. Job: Harvard. P. A.B. 31. M. 35. 

The probable meaning is, that John Harvard was 
admitted a Pensioner in 1627, took his Bachelor's de- 
gree in 1631, and his Master's degree in 1635. " Mid." 
perhaps refers to the county (Middlesex) from which 
he came. 



138 APPENDIX. 



MONUMENT TO JOHN HARVARD. 

The burial-place of the founder of Harvard College 
had long ceased to be nnarked, by anything which 
designated the spot in the church-yard, where reposed 
the mortal remains of one whose name and memory 
are truly imperishable. Even the slab which, with the 
primitive simplicity of New England habits, tells the 
name and age of the deceased, was gone ; and tradi- 
tion, only, pointed out the place consecrated to his ashes. 
His best monument has always been the growing insti- 
tution to which he gave such an efficient impulse. How- 
ever unnecessary to his renown, therefore, it was not 
creditable to those who had enjoyed the benefit of his 
munificence, that no act of theirs should show their 
gratitude and their respect ; and it was to remove this 
blemish upon their own fame that the alumni determined, 
in 1837, that an obelisk of granite should be erected, 
not to preserve his memory, but to show their own sense 
of obligation, to point to his example with honor, and 
to indicate to coming ages the veneration in which his 
character was held by one of the many generations he 
had blessed. 

The first suggestion of this project came from him, 
who was destined, a few years later, to hold the first 
place in the government, as he had long held a distin- 
guished rank among the alumni of the College ; and 
the plan met with that ready adoption, in the commu- 
nity, which indicates its adaptation to the feeling of the 
times, and was followed by the prompt execution char- 
acteristic of New England activity. In just a year 
from the date of the dinner party where the monument 
to Harvard was first talked of, a subscription of one 
dollar from each person had been collected, which 
amounted to enough for the purpose ; and a monument, 



APPENDIX. 139 

of a chaste and suitable design, had been prepared. 
It was completed, and set in its place, with appropriate 
ceremonies, on the 26th September, 1828, when the 
Hon. Edward Everett delivered an address marked by 
those just thoughts, and that eloquent language, which 
have so often characterized his speeches, and delighted 
his audiences. The following sentences extracted from 
it describe the monument, and repeat the inscriptions : 

" It is constructed of our native granite, in a solid 
shaft of fifteen feet elevation, and in the simplest style 
of ancient art. On the eastern face of the shaft, and 
looking towards the land of his birth and education, 
we have directed his name to be inscribed upon the 
solid granite ; and we propose to attach to it, in a 
marble tablet, this short inscription, in his mother 
tongue : 

•' On the twenty-sixth day of September, A. D. 1828, this stone was 
erected by the Graduates of the University at Cambridge, in honor of 
its Founder, who died at Charlestown, on the twenty-sixth ^ day of 
September, A. D. 1638. 

" On the opposite face of the shaft, and looking 
westward, toward the walls of the University which 
bears his name, we have provided another inscription, 
which, in consideration of his character as the founder 
of a seat of learning, is expressed in the Latin tongue : 

" In piam et perpetuam memoriam Johannis Harvardii, annis fere 
ducentis post obitum ejus peractis, Academiae qusae est Cantabrigiae 
Nov-Anglorum alumni, ne diutius vir de htteris nostris optime meritus 
sine monumento quamvis humih jaceret, hunc lapidem ponendum 
curaverunt." 



' Harvard died on the 14th day of September, O. S., corresponding 
more nearly to the 24th of the present style. 



140 APPENDIX. 



EPITAPHS ON PRESIDENTS DUNSTER, CHAUNCY, OAKES, 
LEVERETT, WADSWORTH, HOLYOKE, WILLARD, WEB- 
BER, AND KIRKLAND, TUTOR FLINT, AND PROFESSOR 
WIGGLESWORTH. 



1 



HENRICUS . DUNSTER i 

PRIMUS . COLLEGII . HARVARDINI . PRASES 

VIR . PIETATE . DOCTRINA . PRUDENTIA . INSIGNIS 

OBIIT . SCITUAT^ . AN . M.DC.LIX. 

HUC . TRANSLATUM . EST . CORPUS 

UT .QUOD . ILLE . IN . VOTIS . HABUERAT 

PROPE . ACADEMIAM . A . SE . TUM . NUTRITAM . IN . CUNABULIS 

EX . RE . FAMILIARI 

TUM . RITIBUS . DISCIPLINIS . LEftlBUS . INSTRUCTAM 

REQUIESCERET 

MONUMENTUM . HOC . INIURIA . TEMPORIS . DIRUPTUM 

SOCII . /ETERNUM . ACADEMIC . DECUS . CURANTES 

EEFICIENDUM . JUSSERUNT . AN . M.DCCC.XLV. 



^ This epitaph, and those upon Presidents Joseph Willard and Sam- 
uel "Webber, were written by C. Folsom, Esq. at the request of the 
Corporation, in 1846, when the monuments of the Presidents buried at 
Cambridge were repaired, and a marble slab was placed on the College 
tomb, in which were deposited the remains of Presidents Willard and 
"Webber. The others are copied from the " Epitaphs from the Old 
Burying-Ground in Cambridge. "With Notes, by "William Thaddeus 
Harris." 1845. 



APPENDIX. 141 

1672. 

Conditura 

Hie est corpus 

Caeoli Chaunc^i 

S. S. Theolog-ise Baccalaur: 

et 

Collegii Harvardini nov-Angl. 

Per XVII annorum spatium, 

prtesidis vigilantissimi, 

viri plane integerrimi, 

concionatoris eximii, 

pietate 

pariter ac liberal i eruditione 

ornatissimi. 

Qui obiit in Domino Feb. XIX. 

An. Dom. M.DC LXX.I. 

et setatis suae, LXXX.II. 



16S1. 

Ukiani Oakesii, 

cujus quod reliquum est 

clauditur hoc tumulo; 

Explorata integritate, summa monim 

gravitate, 

Omniumque meliorum arlium insigni peritia, 

spectatissimi clarissimique omnibus modis 

viri, 

theologi merito suo celeberrimi, 

concionatoris vere mellillui, 

Cantab, ecclesiae doctissimi et ortliodoxi 

pastoris, 

in Collegio Harv. Prsesidis vigilantissimi, 

maximam pietatis, eruditionis, facundise, 

laudem adepti; 

Qui, repentina morte subito correptus, 

in Jesu sinum efflavit animam 

Julii XXV. A. D. M.DC.LXXX.I. 

memoriiE ; 

^tatis suae L. 

Plurima quid referam, satis est si dixeris unum 

hoc dictu satis est — Hie jacet Oakesius. 



142 APPENDIX. 



Hie jacent Reliquiae Honoratiss. et Rev. admodum Dom. 
JoHANNis Leverett, Armig. qui Majoribus oriundus 

illustribus, illustrius nomen reddidit quam accepit. 

Virtus et Pietas, Sapientia et Gravitas juventuti fuere 

Laurea, nee non Senectuti Corona. Majcstas et Authoritas 

in oculo, voce, vultu; Benignitas et Humanitas in corde re- 

sederunt ; in Secundis moderatus, in adversis constanti et 

infracto fuit animo. Maritns et Pater amantissimus, amicis 

dulcis et fidus, prudens Consiliarius, fortis Auxiliarius. 

LingTiarum et Artiuni Academicarum inter peri- 

tissimos nee minus in Jurisprudentia et Theo- 

logia quam in Philosopliia conspicuus. 

Omnes fere Honoris gradus conscendit et ornavit. Juvenem 

admodum luirata est et plausit Academia Tutorem primari- 

um et Socium ; ut ct postea Communium Domus Pro- 

locutorem, De Probatione Testamentorum judicem, et in 

Superiori Tribunali Justitiarium ; Regi a consiliis assLstentem 

et in variis Legationibus honorificis et moment osis sagaci- 

ter et integr^ versantem, contemplata est universa Patria. 

Tandem Collegii Principalis et Societatis Regiae soci- 

us cooptatus, Scholse Prophetarum ad annos sedecim 

pari Authoritate et Lenitate prassidebat : donee morte in- 

stantanea Deo visum sit a Filiis Prophetarum Dominum e 

Lectoet Somno in ccclum as.sumere, Maii m" MDCCXXIV. ^Et. LXH. 



APPENDIX. 143 



Sub hoc Marmore conditum est Corpus 

Viri admodum Reverendi D. Benjamin 

Wadsworth nuper Collegii Han^ardini 

Prsesidis lectissimi ; olim primse Ecclesise 

apud Bostonienses Pastoris fidelissimi. Qui 

Scientia tam Divina, quam Humana, Pietate 

& Charitate, Prudentia & Humilitate, Pati- 

-entia & Fortitudine, Diligenlia & Fidelitate 

prge plurimis claniit, imo et harum omnium 

Virtutum Exemplar edidit vividum ac 

illustrissimum : Quiq postquam munere 

Pastoris Ecclesise per spatium triginta 

eirciter Annorum ; et deinde Prsesidis 

Academiae Annos quasi duodecim fideli- 

-ter perfunctus fuerat. Spa Beatse resur- 

-rectionis, et Solamine Verborum Apostoli 

I. Pet. I. III. ad 10. ex Corde atque Ore ema- 

-nantium obiit in Domino die Martii de- 

-cimo sexto, Anno MDCCXXXVII. 

^t. 68. 

Pretiosa est Oculis Domini^ Mors Sanctorum. 



144 APPENDIX. 



M. S. 

Viri admodum reverend! 

Pariter atque honorandi 

Edvardi Holyoke ; 

Qui, 

Praestanti decoratus ingenio ; 

Doctrina instructissimus ; 

Arte moderandi apprime felix ; 

Prfeclarus eloquentia ; 

Mira in rebus suo tempore exequendis 

Accuratione preeditus ; 

Moribus ornatus sanctissimis ; 

Integritate preesertim ab omni parte intacta ; 

Collegii Harvardini PrcEsidis, 

A jacto fundamento undecim munus, 

Amplius triginta annis, 

Cum summa laude sustinuit 

Ac dignitate. 

In vita insuper privata 

Edidit imitandum omnibus exemplum. 

Conjugis amantissimi ; erga liberos pietatis ; 

Urbanitatis in hospites ingenufe comisque ; 

Summi erga amicos studii et eonstantis ; 

Pauperibus elargiendi saepissime ; 

Religionis erga Deum, mediante Christo, insignis. 

Vita demum optime peracta, 

Animam Jesu commendavit, expiravitque, 

Calendis Juniis, 

Anno Christi nati MDCCLXIX. 

^tatis suae LXXX. 



APPENDIX. 145 



JOSEPHO . WlLLAED . S . T . D . LL.D. 

Collegii . Harvardini . Praesidi . XIII. 

Biddefordiae . In . Provincia . Manensi . Nato 

Abavi . Simonis . De . Republica 

Proavi . Samuelis . De . CoUegio 

Bene . Merentium . JEmulo 

Novae . Bedfordiae . Mortuo . An . M . DCC .Iv . ^tatis . Suae .LXVI 

Viro . Integerrimo . Strenuo . Docto . Pio 

Theologiae . Astrononiise . Et . Grascarum . Literarum . Apprime . Perito 

Ecclesise . In . Beverleio . Pastori . Fidelissimo 

Qui . Quum . Tutor . Primum . Ac . Socius . In . Academia . Fuisset 

Postremum . Eandem . Dum . Incomraodis . Belli . Recentibus 

Elanquescerat 

Suscipiens . Erexit . Sanis . Instruxit . Disciplinis . 

Et . Tanta . Cum . Gravitate . Candore . Benignitate 



Per . XXIII . Circiter . Annos . Administravit 

Ut . Egregiam . Apud . Omnes . Sibi . Comparavit . Opinionem 

Senatus . Academicus 

H . M. Ponendum . Curavit. 



10 



146 APPENDIX. 



± 



Hie . Situs . Est 

Samuel . Webber . S . T . D. 

Praeses . Collegii . Havardini . XIV. 

Byfeldiae . In . Agro . Essexiensi . Natus 

Vir . Probus . Gravis . Mitis . Sedulus 

Doctrina . Ac . Pietate . Insignis 

Qui 

Quum . Tutor . Primum . In . Academia . Fuisset 

Inde . Per . Annos . Circiter . XVII. 

Mathematicas . Disciplinas . Summa . Cum . Laude . Professus . Esset 

Atque . Tandem . Ad . Gubernacula . Sederet 

Subita . Eheu . Morte . Correptus 
Decessit . Meritis . Quam . Annis . Cumulatior 



An . M . DCCC . X . ^tatis . Sua; . LI. 

Hoc . Monumentum 

Senatus . Academicus , P . C. 



An . M . DCCC . XLVl. 



APPENDIX. ^^^ 



The monument to Dr. Kirkland is erected on Har- 
vard Hill, at Mount Auburn. On the north side is the 
following inscription : 

Joannes . Thornton . Kirkland 

V.D.M.S.T.D. 

Decessit , Aprilis . Die . XVI 

A.D.N. MDCCCXL 

JEtatis . Suae . LXIX 

On the opposite side — 

JoANNi . Thornton . Kirkland 

Viro . Hoaorato . Dilecto 

Auctoritate . Suavitate 

Ingenii . Acumine . Serraonis . Venustate 

Et . Animi . Quadam . Altitudine 

Praestanti 

Academiae . Harvardianae 

Per . Annos . XVII . Faustos . Prssidi 

^quo . Vigilanti . Benigno . Pio 

Alumni . Grate . Memores 

Hoc . Monximenlum . Ponendum. Curaverunt 



148 



APPENDIX. 



Huic tumulo mandantur exuviae 

Viri adraodum venerabilis 

Henrici Flynt Armigeri 

Academiae Harvardinae Alumni, 

Ejusdemque (circiter annos sexaginta) Socii et Tutoris 

Magna ex Parte Primarii, 

Equanimitate vix sequiparanda Praediti : 

Pietate, Probitate, et Eruditione conspicui : 

Studiis Historicis, Politicis et Prsecipue Sacris, 

Et inter Sacra Propheticis, 

Maxime addicti : 

Concionatoris gTavis, solidi et pungentis : 

Qui Charitatis Catholicae Exemplar 

Haud aspernandum Bonis omnibus exliibuit 

Et Graviorum Religionis Cliristianae Tenax 

De Minutiis fuit parum solicit us. 

Tandem 

Plenus Dierum 

Et Longsevitate saturatus 

Annum JEtatis Octogesimum quintum agens, 

Inconcussa spe beatae Immortalitatis 

Efflavit Annimam, 

Decirao Tertio Februarii, 

Annoque Salutis humanae 

Millesimo Septingentesimo Sexagesimo. 



APPENDIX. 149 



1765. 



Huic tumulo mandantur exuviae 

Viri Reverendi Edvardi Wigglesworth S. T. D. 

Senatus Harvardiiii plus annis quadrag-inta Socii : 

Theologiae Professoris HoULsiani primi ; 

Cui muneri 

Perspicax ingenium, ratiocinandi facultas eximia, mens 

Peritia rerum humanarum divinarumque accurala, 

Stylus concinnus lucidusque in rebus exponendis ordo, 

Et quoque pietas ab iiieunte astate insigiiis, 

Morumque probitas 

Hunc ante alios idonemn fecerant : 

Ipsiusque deinde praelectiones 

Ad doeendum mire accommodatas, 

Literatis item omnibus probatissimas reddiderunt. 

In Controversiis 

Temperatus, aequus, candidus, 

Simul et acer, nervosus, prspotens extitit. 

In domo sua, et inter cives, 

Conjux peramans, parens benevolentissimus ; 

Paterfamilias Justus, mansuetus, clemens ; 

Amicus comis, ardens, constans ; 

Egentibus liberalis ; 

Consulere cupientibus adilu facillimus 

Animo placido, hilari, benigno, 

In rebus vel secundis vel adversis immoto, 

Observantiam ubique concOiavit et amorem. 

Partes sibi concreditas fideliter exequendo, 

Mentis ad extremum usque spii'itum compos, 

Christo vixit. 

In Christo 

Spe immortalilis beataB erectus, 

XVI Januarii, A. D. M.DCCLXV, ^tatis LXXHI, 

suaviter obdormiit. 



150 APPENDIX. 



ADDRESS TO PRESIDENT WASHINGTON. 

October 27, 1789. 
To the President of the United States : 

Sir, — It is with singular pleasure that we, the Presi- 
dent and Fellows of Harvard University in Cambridge, 
embrace the opportunity which your most acceptable 
visit to this part of the country gives us of paying our 
respects to the first magistrate of the United States. 

It afforded us the highest satisfaction to find this large 
and respectable nation unanimous in placing at the 
head of the new government the firm and disinterested 
patriot, the illustrious and intrepid soldier, who, during 
her struggles in the cause of liberty, braving every 
difficulty and danger in the field, under the smiles of a 
kind Providence, led her armies to victory and triumph, 
and finally established her freedom and independence. 
Nor were we less gratified when we found that the 
person whose military skill and exertions had been so 
happily succeeded, actuated by the same spirit of pa- 
triotism, did not decline the toilsome and arduous office ; 
but listening to the voice of his country, left the tran- 
quil scenes of private life to secure those blessings, we 
were in the utmost danger of losing. We were fully 
persuaded that the man, who, during so great a length 
of time, and in the most trying circumstances, had been 
accepted by the multitude of his brethren, would, in 
this new station, enjoy their entire confidence and en- 
sure their highest esteem. Nor have we been disap- 
pointed. 

Permit us. Sir, to congratulate you on the happy 
establishment of the government of the Union, on the 
patriotism and wisdom which have marked its public 
transactions, and the very general approbation which 
the people have given to its measures. At the same 



APPENDIX. 151 

time, Sir, being fully sensible tbat you are strongly im- 
pressed with the necessity of religion, virtue, and solid 
learning for supporting freedom and good government, 
and fixing the happiness of the people upon a firm and 
permanent basis, \Ve beg leave to recommend to your 
favorable notice the University entrusted to our care, 
which was early founded for promoting these important 
ends. 

When you took the command of the troops of your 
country, you saw the University in a state of depres- 
sion — its members dispersed — its literary treasures 
removed — and the Muses fled from the din of arms 
then heard within its walls. Happily restored, in the 
course of a few months, by your glorious successes, to 
its former privileges, and to a state of tranquillity, it re- 
ceived its returning members, and our youth have since 
pursued without interruption their literary courses, and 
fitted themselves for usefulness in church and state. 
The public rooms which you formerly saw empty, are 
now replenished with the necessary means of improv- 
ing the human mind in literature and science ; and 
everything within these walls wears the aspect of peace, 
so necessary to the cultivation of the liberal arts. 
While we exert ourselves, in our corporate capacity, to 
promote the great objects of this institution, we rest 
assured of your protection and patronage. 

We wish you, Sir, the aid and support of Heaven 
while you are discharging the duties of your most im- 
portant station. May your success in promoting the 
best interests of the nation, be equal to your highest 
wishes ; and after you shall have long rejoiced in the 
prosperity and glory of your country, may you receive 
the approbation of Him who ruleth among the nations. 

Joseph Willard, 
President of the University. 



152 APPENDIX. 



ANSWER OF PRESIDENT WASHINGTON. 

To the President and Fellows of Harvard University, in Cambridge ■ 

Gentlemen, — Requesting you to accept my sincere 
thanks for the Address with which you have thought 
proper to honor me, I entreat you to be persuaded of 
the respectful and affectionate consideration with which 
I receive it. 

Elected by the suffrages of a too partial country to 
the eminent and arduous station which I now hold, it is 
peculiarly flattering to find an approbation of my con- 
duct in the judgment of men whose reverend characters 
must sanction the opinions they are pleased to express. 

Unacquainted with the expression of sentiments 
which I do not feel, you will do me justice by believing 
confidently in my disposition to promote the interests 
of science and true religion. 

It gives me sincere satisfaction to learn the flourish- 
ing state of your literary republic — assured of its 
efficiency in the past events of our political system, 
and of its further influence on those means which make 
the best support of good government, I rejoice that the 
direction of its measures is lodged with men whose ap- 
proved knowledge, integrity and patriotism give an un- 
questionable assurance of their success. 

That the Muses may long enjoy a tranquil residence 
within the walls of your University, and that you, gen- 
tlemen, may be happy in contemplating the progress 
of improvement, through the various branches of your 
important departments, are among the most pleasing of 
my wishes and expectations. 

George Washington. 



APPENDIX. 



1^ 



TABLE I. 

GRANTS BY THE LEGISLATURE OF MASSACHUSETTS TO 
HARVARD COLLEGE, FROM ITS FOUNDATION TO THE 
PRESENT TIME. FROM THE STATE RECORDS. 



Date 
1636 
1639 

1640 

1646 

1650 

1653 

1654 
1657 

1666 
1672 

1675 
1682 



1692 
1694 
1695 
1702 
1708 
1709 
1711 
1712 
1713 
1715 
1716 
1717 
1718 





£ Sterling. 


£ Lawful. 


Towards a school or College, 


400 







Cambridge and Watertowii rates, £30 








12^. and £20, . . . . 


50 12 







Ferry between Boston and Charles- 








town, 








To Pres. Dunster, to be paid in grain 








or rates, 


100 







The Charter exempted the College from 








taxation on real property to the value 








of £500 sterling per annum. 








Two thousand acres of land. [Never 








obtained.] 








£100 per annum, for seven years, 






700 


Five hundred acres of land granted to 








President. 








To the President, . . . . 






20 


£150 per anniun to the President for 








three years, 






450 


£100 do. do. seven years, . 






700 


£100 do. do. ten years. 






1000 


" Merriconeag in Casco Bay, with 1000 








acres adjacent," granted to President 
and Fellows. [This grant was de- 














feated by adverse claims.] 








To the President, . . . . 






100 


Do. . 






150 


Do. £50 per annum for six years, 






300 


Do. £60 " " " " 






360 


Do. £150 » " three » 






450 


Do. for repairmg his house, 






12 1 2 


Do 






ISO 


Do 






180 


Do. £190 at 291 per ct. disc, from sterl. 


133 19 







Do. 190at33| " " 


126 13 


4 




Do. 190 at 40 " " 


114 







Do. 180 at 40 « « 


108 







Do. 180 at 45 " 


99 







For erecting Massachusetts Hall £1500 








at 45 per cent, discount from ster- 








ling, 

Amount carried forward, 


825 







1957 4 


4 


4602 1 2 



154 



APPENDIX. 



Date 



1719 



1720 
1722 
1723 
1725 
1726 



1727 



1735 
1736 



1737 
1738 



1741 



1743 



1746 



1747 



174S 



1750 



1752 



Amount brought forward, 
To the Pre!*ident £180 at 50 per cent 

discount from sterling-, 
For the new building, £2000 at 50 per 

cent, discount from sterling, 
Two hundred and fifty acres of land 

in the town of Lunenburg, sold for 

£120 at 50 per cent .... 

To the President, £400 at 50 pr ct. disc 

" " 150 "57 « 

« u 150 "60 " 

« « 220 "64 " 

360 "64 " 

For President's House, £1000 at 64 

per cent, discount, . 
To the President, £360 per annum for 

eight years is £2880, at 64 per cent, 

discount, .... 

To Prof Wigglesworth, £50 at 78 per 

cent, discount, .... 
To the President, £120 at 76 per cent. 

discount, .... 

To Prof Wigglesworth, £16 13^. 4d. 

at 76 per cent, discount, . 
To the President, £200 at 76 per cent 

discount, .... 

To the President, £300 at 79 per cent 

discount, , . • . 

To Prof Wigglesworth, £16, 13^. 4d. 

at 79 per cent, discount, . 
To the President, £150 at 79 pr ct disc 
To Prof. Wiggles'tJi, 30 " 79 " 
To the President, 200 " 79 " 
To Prof. Wiggles'th, 25 " 79 " 
To the President, 240 " 83 " 
To Prof Wiggles'th, 25 " 83 
To the President, 300 " 84 « 
To Prof Wiggles'th, 75 " 84 " 
To the President, 350 " 85 " 
To Prof. Wigglesworth, 125 at 85 per 

cent, discount, 
To the President, £336 13^. 4d. at 90 

per cent, discount, . 
To Prof. Wigglesworth, £200 at 90 per 

cent, discount, .... 

To Prof Wintlu-op, £50 at 90 percent. 

discount, 

To the President, £250 at 90 per cent, 

discount, 



£ Sterling 
1957 4 4 



90 
1000 



1036 16 
11 
28 16 
4 
48 
63 



60 

200 

64 10 

60 

79 4 

129 12 

360 



3 10 
31 10 

6 6 
42 

5 5 
40 16 

4 5 
48 
12 
52 10 



Amount carried forward. 



18 15 

33 13 4 

20 

5 

25 



5540 12 8 



APPENDIX. 



155 



Date 

Amount brought forward, 
1753 To Prof Wigglesworlh, £100 at 90 per 
cent. di.scount, 
To Pruf Winthrop,£60 at 90 pr ct. disc 
To tlie President, 
Tu Prof Wigorlesworth, 
To Prof Winthrop, . 
To Rubbi Judah Monis, instructer in 

Hebrew, 

I755.T0 the President, £250 per annum, for 

six years, .... 

To Prof Wigglesworth, 

To Prof Winthrop, . 

iTo R. Monis, .... 

1757 To Prof Wigglesworth, £100 for four 

years, 

To Prof Winthrop, £90 per annvim for 

four vears, .... 
To R. Monis, .... 



1758 
1760 
1761 



To *\ie President, 

To Prof Wigglesworth, 

To Prof Winthrop, 

1762 To the President, 
To Prof Wigglesworth, 
To Prof Winthrop, . 
Towards erection of a new building 

(Mollis Hall,) .... 
For materials for the same. 
One si.vty-tourth part of twelve town 

ships in Maine, 

1763 To the President, 
To Prof. Wigglesworth, 
To Prof Winthrop, 
To Prof Sewall, 
Towards the new building. 
For defraying arrearages on the 

same, 

1764 To the President, 
To Prof Wigglesworth, 
To Prof Winthrop, 
To Prof Sewall, 
To Andrew Eliot, butler, 
For a " water engine," 

Amount carried forward, . 5556 12 8 14,978 18 10 

^ At this period, the currency was changing from paper to specie J 
and although it may not have been completed by this year, yet, as 
there are no means of ascertaining the exact diflerence, the nominal 
amount is allowed. 



£ Sterling. 
5540 12 8 

10 
6 



£ T-a\vful. 
4602 1 2 



190 



150 
20 



1500 








200 








190 








40 








400 








360 








18 








20 








20 








230 








90 








80 








250 








100 








90 








2000 








500 








250 








100 








90 








30 








17b3 








530 


7 


2 


250 








100 








100 








40 









75 10 6 
100 



156 



APPENDIX. 



Date 

Amount broug-ht forward 
To students for losses by the burning 

of Harvard Hall 
To others belonging to the College, 

suflerers by the lire 
Towards rebuilding Harvard Hall 
1765 To the President, 

To Prof Wiggles worth, 

To Prof. Winthrop, . . . . 

To Prof Sewall, 

Towards rebuilding Harvard Hall, 
176G To the President, . . . , 

To Prof Wigglesworth, 
To Prof Winthrop, .... 
For rebuilding Harvard Hall, 
1767 To the President, £200 per annum for 

seven years, 

To Prof. Wigglesworth, £100 per an- 
num for nine years, excepting the 
year 1772, when £80 only were 
allowed him, . 
To Prof Winthrop, £100 per annum 

for nine years, 
To Prof. Sewall 



1768 
1769 
1770 

1771 



£ Sterling 

r^55Q 12 8 



" " £40 per annum, for 

six years. 
Four eighty-fourth parts of towns in 

Maine. 
Three sixty-fourth parts of other towns 

in Maine. 

1775 To the President, . . . . 
1777 " " £242 4s. 5d. which, 

at the average rate of depreciation 

for that year,' was worth about 
To Prof Wigglesworth, £189 175. 8d. 

worth about ..... 
To Prof Winthrop, £180, worth about 
To Prof Sewall, 100, 

To the President 400, which in that 

year was worth about 
To Prof Wigglesworth, £200, worth 

about 

To Prof Winthrop, £180, worth about 

To Prof Sewall, 100, " 

To the President, 1000, of which 

Amount carried forward, 



1778 



1779 



5556 12 8 24,447 



See Felt's History of Massachusetts Currency, pp. 186 and 196 



APPENDIX. 



157 



Date 



1780 



1781 

1783 

1784 
1786 



1814 





£ Sterling 


£ Lawful. 


Amount brought forward, 


5556 12 8 


24,447 3 7| 


the average value in that year was 






about 




67 


To Prof. Wigglesworth, £500, worth 






about 




34 


To Prof Sewall, £290, worth about 




19 6 4 


ToProfWmtlirop,500, " 




34 


To the President, £7497 10^. which, 






at fortjr for one, is ... . 




187 6 3 


To Prof. Wigglesworth, £3500, which, 






at forty for one, is worth 




87 10 


To Prof Winthrop, £800, which, at 






forty for one, is worth 




20 


To Prof SewaU, £2080, which, at forty 






for one, is worth . . . . 




52 


To Prof Wnhams, (in specie,) . 




175 


To Prof Wigglesworth, « 




150 


To Prof Sewall, « 




47 19 


To the President, . . . . 




261 13 4 


To the Professors, £105 each, . 




315 


To the President, . . . . 




232 10 


To Prof Wigglesworth, 




233 7 8 


To the President, . . . . 




483 6 8 


To Prof Wigglesworth, and Prof Pear- 






son, £241 13s. 4d. each, . 

These sums are respectively equal to 
Amounting to 




483 6 8 


5556 12 8 


27,330 9 6h 


$24,696.14 


$91,101.59 




$115,797,731 


Ten sixteenths of bank tax, $10,000 a 






year for ten years, .... 
Total, 




$100,000.00 


$215,797,731 



Besides the above grants of money and lands, a lottery was author- 
ized, in 1765, to raise £3,200 " for the new building," probably Harvard 
Hall. 

In 1785 £200 per annum were ordered to be paid by Charles River 
Bridge Corporation, as a compensation for the ferry which had been 
granted to the College in 1640. In 1792, the same sum was taxed 
upon West Boston Bridge Corporation. In 1794, a lottery was granted 
to raise £S000 for a new building, and in 1806 another, to raise 
$30,000 for a sunilar purpose. In 1809, a township of land in Maine 
was given to the Massachusetts Agricultural Society for the Professor- 
ship of Natural History. 



158 



APPENDIX. 



TABLE II. 

DONATIONS, CONSISTING PRINCIPALLY OF SUMS OF 
MONEY, AND ARTICLES ESTIMATED IN MONEY, GIVEN 
BY INDIVIDUALS TO HARVARD COLLEGE. 



Date 
163S 



1639 



1642 



Rev. John Harvaed, 

[A question is raised by Presitlent 
Quincy whether this bequest amount- 
ed to more than the half of this sum. 
the phraseology being that he gave 
" the moiety of his estate." But the 
earliest records imply that the moiety 
amounted to the sum above named ; 
and the testhnony of the Rev. Thom- 
as Shepard, his contemporary, and 
the minister of Cambridge, is positive 
to the fact that the property of Har- 
vard amounted to .£1600. He also 
gave 320 volumes of books.] 

Mr. Joseph Glover gave a "font of 
printing letters." 

[This font of types was perhaps 
bequeathed to the College by Mr. 
Glover, who was a printer, and who 
died on the passage to this country. 
His widow afterwards became the 
wife of President Dunster.] 

The Honorable Magistrates and Rev- 
erend Elders, books valued at . 

Mr. Henry Pool, .... 

Mr. Theophilus Eaton, 

Mr. Richard Russell, .... 

Mr. Edward Jackson, 

Mr. Wory, 

Mr. Parish, merchant, 

Some gentlemen of Amsterdam gave 
^£49, " and somcthin>g more,'''' to- 
wards furnisliing a printing-press 
with letters, 

Mr. William Hibbons, ") Procured from 

Mr. Thomas "Welles, > divers gentle- 
Mr. Hugh Peters, j men and mer- 
chants in England for books for the 
hbrary, 



Amount carried forward, . 1254 17 2 



£ Sterling. 
779 17 2 



200 








10 








40 








9 








10 





a 


4 








3 








49 









150 



Mass.Currency. 



APPENDIX. 



159 



Date 



1643 



1644 



Amount brought forward, 

Mr. Holbrook, schoolmaster at Essex, 
England, . • . . 

A person in England, unknown, . 

Rev. Mr. Greenhill, minister of God 
word at Stepney, 

Mr. George Glover, 

Mrs. Glover, .... 

Mr. Bridges, ) 

Mr. Greenhill, V Utensilstothe value of 

Mr. Glover, ) 

A gentleman not willing his name 
should be known, 

Mr. Willis, merchant, of Boston, . 

Captain Welles, of Roxbury, 

Mr. Israel Stoughton, of Dorchester, 

Mr. Richard Parker, of Boston, woollen 
draper, 

Mr. John Pratt, of Hartford, 

His Majesty's Colonies in eight years 
gave as follows, viz. : 
Massachusetts, 
Hartford, 
New Haven, 
Plymouth, (town of ) . 

LadyMoulson, .... 

Mr. Bridges, .... 

Sundry other persons unknown, . 

[These three sums, amounting to 
X162. 16. 4, were paid into the 
" country treasury," where they re- 
mained till 1713, when they were 
repaid with interest at six per cent, 
per annum, from 1685, — £15 per 
annum having been allowed from 
1643 to 1685.] 

Mr. Richard Harris, a great silver salt, 
valued, in 1654, at £5. 1. 3. at 5s. 
per ounce, and a small trencher salt, 
valued, in 1654, at 10.s. . 

Mr. Thomas Langham, a silver beer 
bowl, valued at ... . 

Mr. Venn, fellow commoner, one fruit 
dish, one silver sugar spoon, and one 
silver tipt jug. 

Extract from the Colony Records. 
1644. — " Upon advice from the Com- 
missioners of the United Colonies for 
general care to be taken for the en- 
couragement of learning and en- 
trance of poor schollers in ye College 



Amount carried forward, 



£ Sterling. 


1254 17 2 


22 


2 10 


7 


2 


10 


20 


50 


7 


10 


5 


4 


4 


191 3 4i 


39 1 


35 1 3 


4 13 


100 


50 


12 16 4 



Mass.Currency. 



5 11 3 
3 3 10 



1839 17 2^ 



160 



APPENDIX. 



Date 



1650 

1653 

1654 

1655 
1656 

1657 



Amount brought forward, 
at Cambridge, it is ordered that the 
deputies shall commend it to the sev- 
eral townes (and the elders are de- 
sired to give their furtherance hereto) 
w^ith declaration of the cause which 
was propounded by the said Commis- 
sioners, and hath been put in practice 
already by some of the other Colo- 
nies, viz., of every family allowing 
one peck of corn, or 12d. in money 
or other commodity, to be sent to the 
treasurer for the College at Cam 
bridge, or where else he shall appoint 
in Boston or Charlestown." 

From a letter of Dunster's to the 
Commissioners, in 1647, it appears 
that this contribution amounted to 
about ^50 per annum. Quincy's 
History, p. 15-17, vol. 1. 

John Newgate (or Newdigate) of Bos 
ton, gave by his will an annuity of 
£5, being 5 per cent, interest on 

[This armuity was sold in 1844 for 
$333.33.] 

John Glover, an annuity of £5, . 

[This annuity continues to be paid, 
and is a charge on a building in 
Dock Square.] 

Sundry gentlemen, and the town of 
Charlestown, towards the repairs of 
the College, 

Sir Kenelm Digby gave books to the 
value of 

Mr. Samuel Parris (sometimes spelt 
Parish) a silver tankard, valued in 
inventory of College plate Nov. 18, 
1674, 

Edward Hopkins, Governor of Hart- 
ford Colony, gave in " corn and 
meate," according to Treasurer Dan- 
forth's account, .... 
[The facilities of conveyance may 
be judged of by the charge of £1. 6. 
for transport to Cambridge. By his 
will, which was proved in 1657, he 
gave £590 to trustees for the pur- 
pose of " breeding up hopeful youth 
in a way of learning both at the 
Grammar School and College for the 



Amount carried forward, . 1899 17 2^| 559 5 6 



£ Pterling 
1839 17 2^ 



60 



Miiss.Currency. 



100 

100 

25115 6 

7 10 

100 



APPENDIX. 



161 



Date 



1658 



Amount brought forw^ard, 
public service of the country iii 
future times." 

This bequest was not paid till 
1718, and then by a decree of the 
Lord Chancellor it was put in tru 
for the benefit of the College and 
Grammar School at Cambridge^ 
where it has remained ever since, 
though not with the entire acquies- 
cence of the friends of Yale College, 
some of whom have urged that it 
was probable Governor Hopkins 
intended this legacy for the benefit 
of that institution. The date of the 
establishment of Yale College does 
not favor this idea.] 

Captain Richard Sprague, of Charles- 
town, by his last will and testament 
gave to the College thirty ewe 
sheep, with their lambs, valued at 
£30. 

[In College Book No. 1, p. 44, is 
the following receipt: "Rec'd of 
f by] me, John Richards, treasurer of 
Harvard College in Cambridge, of 
Thos. Danforth, late treasurer of the 
said society, six fat cattle, and two 
oxen, valued at £35 in current 
country pay, and is in lieu of the 
sheep he the said Thos. Danforth 
rec'd for the legacy of Capt. R 
Sprague to the said College. Sept. 
7, 16G9.] 

Sir Richard Daniel, Knight, gave many 
books to the library. 

Mr. William Colburn, of Boston, gave 
in money, .... 

Mr. John Freik gave books to the val 
ue of 

Mr. Latham, minister of Bury, in the 
County of Lancaster, 

Mr. William Paine, merchant, gave, to 
be laid out in lands, 

Mr. Jn. Paine, merchant, of Boston, 

gave 

[These gifts of Jn. and William 
Paine were laid out for the purchase 
of land lying north of the old meet- 
ing house, as far as Harvard Hall, 



Amount carried forward, 
11 



£ Sterling. [Mass Currency. 
1899 17 2hj. 559 5 6 



5 



. 1904 17 21 1139 5 



500 



35 



5 








10 








20 








10 









162 



APPENDIX. 



Date 

1658 Amount brought forward, 
beins: the lot bought of John Betts, 
m 1661/ 

Ml-. Strang-uish, of London, gave 

[The donations from England are 
put down as having been in the cur- 
rency of England, whether it be so 
stated, or not, in thd College books 
Sums may have been translated in 
the College records into lawful mo- 
ney, as it was called ; but if this 
were the case, the result would not 
often be stated in a precise number 
of pounds, like the above gift ^ 

The inhabitants of a certain place 
(supposed to be Eleutheria, Bahama 
Islands) out of their poverty gave 

Mr. Edward Tyng 

Mr. John Ward, of Ipswich, by his 
will gave the remainder of his estate 
to the College ; whereof received in 
horses, valued at £72. [Treasurer 
Danforth credits in his account, " By 
pt. [payment] of Mr. Ward's legacy 
£94," and charges for a " loss i7i a 
colt, had in payment of said legacy, 
£1. 10 ," showing the amount real 
ized. 

Mr. John Willet gave the bell now 
hanging in the turret. [By the word 
now must be here meant a date not 
later than 1668, as the record of the 
donation, in College Book No. 3, is in 
Treasurer Danforth's handwritin^ ^ 

Mr. John Wintlu-op gave books to Ihe 
value of 

1659 John Dodderidge, Esq., of Fremington, 
in the county of Devon, gave an an- 
nuity of £10 "towards the main- 
tenance of poor scholars," forever. 
[It was paid for twenty-four years, 
but never since, notwithstanding 
many attempts to recover it.] 

Robert Keyne, of Boston, merchant, 
gave to tJie College a legacy of 
£100, and the half of a house which 
was valued at £147. 10., and was 
afterwards sold for £150, 

[Robert Keyne must have been a 
man not merely of substance, as ap- 



Ainount carried forward, 



£ Pterlins;. iMass.Currencjr. 



1904 17 2i 



10 



124 



1139 5 6 



10 



86 10 



240 



20 



250 



2278 17 2i 1505 5 6 



APPENDIX. 



163 



Amount brought forward, 
pears by so considertible a legacy to 
the tDollege, and of distinction for 
courage and conduct, as appears by 
his having been the first Captain of 
the Artillery Company, Init of excel 
lent sense and discretion, and a mod 
est appreciation of hmiself worthy 
of being always had in remembrance 
as appears by the following sen 
tences in his will with regard to the 

disposition of his legacy : " my 

desire is that it shall be improved 
(not about the buildings or repairs of 
the College, for that I think the 
cozuitry should do and look after ^) 
but for the use and help of such poor 
and hopeful scholars," &c. And 
again: "Therefore because I have 
but little insight in the true ordering 
of scholars and other things thereto 
belonging in a College way, and so 
possibly may dispose of my gift 
where there is less need, and that it 
might do more good if it was dis- 
posed of in some other way, / arn 
wiUhig to refer it to the Fresident^ 
Trustees and Overseers^ that are en. 
trusted with the care and ordering 
of the College, and scholars or stu- 
dents, with the things thereto be 
longing." The approbation of pos- 
terity should be bestowed on such 
wise self-renunciation, as an offset 
for the rebukes which Capt. Keyne 
endured from the church, and the 
penalties he paid to the Court, in 
his own day, for making too much 
profit on his merchandise.] 
Richard Saltonstall, Esq., being m 
England, sent over goods which cost 
there .... 
and money to the amount of 

I The currency in which this mo- 
ney was paid cannot be a.scertained. 
It IS supposed to be sterling, from its 
having been sent from England. It 
has also been .suppo.'jed — see Peirce 
and Quincy — that this was in pay 
ment of his father's legacy to tlie 
College.] 

Amount carried forward, 



£ Sterling. 

2278 17 2^ 



100 
220 








Mass. Currency. 
1505 5 6 



2598 17 2^ 1505 5 6 



164 



APPENDIX. 



Date! 

Amount brought forward, 
1660]Mr. Henry Webb bequeathed a dwell- 
ing house in Boston, 

[The house stood on the ground 
now occupied by tlie bookstore of 
Messrs. Little & Brown, and the 
estate still belongs to the College.] 

Rev. Ezekiel Rogers, of Rowley, be- 
queathed a part of his library, and 
the reversion of his house and lands. 
I The College came into possession 
in 1711. The lands in Rowley were 
sold, and a farm in Waltham, called 
the " Rogers Farm," was purchased, 
and this again was sold, in 1835, for 
$5000.] 
1664 Thomas Pierce, senior, of Charlestown, 
left a legacy of .... 

Capt. Penelton gave, in lumber, 

Mr. Rowss, of Charlestown, saddler, 
I legacy, .... 

Mr. Francis Willoughby, 

Mr. Wilson, of Boston, merchant, gave 
a pewter flagon, 

Bridget Wynds, of Charlestown, 
legacy of .... 

Several" persons of Portsmouth, N. H 
engaged to give sixty pounds per 
annum for seven years, (of this 
amount Mr. Richard Cutts gave 
£20 per annum), and the town, in 
1673, voted that what remained un- 
paid of this sum should be levied on 
the inhabitants, 

Henry Henley, Esq., of Lyme, Dorset- 
shire, 

A gentleman in England, by Pete 
Sargent, 

1670 Another gentleman in England, by the 
same, 

William Pennoyer, an annuity, from 
the rents of an estate in Norfolk 
England, for the benefit of "two 
fellows and two scholars," valued at 
[This annuity continues to be 
paid, and yields about £50 per an- 
num ] 

1671 James Penn, elder of the First Church 
in Boston, bequeathed an annuity, 
to be paid out of the rents of his 



£ Sterling. 
2598 17 2 



|Mass,Currency. 

1505 5 6 
50 



Amount carried forward, 



27 
27 



20 



680 



1 
5 







2 10 
16 






10 





4 






420 



!352 17 2h 2004 5 6 



APPENDIX. 



165 



Date j£ sterling 

Amount brought forward, . 3352 17 2^ 

1671 farm at Pulling Point, to the elders 
and deacons of the First Church, 
" for the maintenance of some poor 
scholar or scholars at the College," 

[This legacy continues available to 
the present day.] 

1672 Mr. Henry Ashurst, (the same, proba- 
bly, who was afterwards Sir Henry, 
agent of the Colony,) . . . 100 

A contribution was made this year in 
forty-four towns, for the erection of 
a new building for the College ; and, 
with the exception of four, viz. : Do- 
ver and Exeter, N. H., and Kittery 
and Scarborough, in Maine, they 
were all within the present limits of 
this Common weahh ; the most north- 
erly being Newbury, the most south- 
erly, Weymouth ; and Concord be- 
ing the most westerly, except those 
on or near the Connecticut River, 
viz. : Northampton, Hadlev, Hat- 
field, Springfield, and Westfield 
Boston gave £800, and the whole 
amounted to . . . . 

Sir George Downing, a graduate of 
the first class, gave, towards the 
same object, 5 

1674 A gentleman in England, by Peter 
Sarffent 24 

1675 Dr. John Lightfoot, of England, be- 
queathed his whole library, compris- 
ing many volumes of Oriental liter- 
ature. 

1676 Judith Finch left a legacy of £1 in 
corn, from which the College real- 
ized, 

1678 Theophilus Gale, D. D., bequeathed 
his library, which was more than 
equal to all that was in the College 
library before. 

1679 Joseph Brown, bequeathed 
and in books, .... 

[This legacy, it is said in the 
records, was probably never re- 
ceived.] 
John Smeadley, of Concord, 

1680 Henry Clark, of Hadlev, . 
Richard Russell bequeathed £100 



Maps. Currency. 
2004 5 6 



10 



Amount carried forward, . 3481 17 2h 4502 6 2 



2277 6 2 



14 6 



100 
50 



10 
50 



166 



APPENDIX. 



Date I 
1680 



1681 



1682 

I 

1683 



1687 
1690 



1693 

1694 
1695 

1696 

1697 



Amount brought forward, 
of which was received in provisions 
only 

David Wilton 

Sir Matthew Holworthy bequeathed 
" to be disposed of by the directors 
as tiiey siiail judge best for the pro- 
motion of learning and promulga- 
tion of the Gospel." 

Capt. John Hull, . . . . 

Capt. Samuel Scarlett bequeathed an 
annuity of £7, but nothing more 
was ever realized than 

Sir John Maynard, " his majesty's ser- 
geant at law," eight chests of books, 
valued at 

Mr. Henry Ashworth bequeathed 

Mr. Joseph Brown, "| fellow com- 

Mr. Edward Page, > moners, 

Mr. Francis Wainwright ' gave each a 
silver goblet. [Mr. Wainwright 
graduated in 1686. The other two 
do not appear to have received 
degree.] 

Deacon William Trusedale bequeathed 
£40 — " and still remains due to the 
College," says the record. 

Rev. Thomas Shepard gave a silver 
goblet. 

William Brown, senior, bequeathed 

Robert Thorner, of Baddesley, in the 
county of Southampton, bequeathed 
[This legacy was given while 
President Mather was hi England 
but in consequence of certain pro 
visions in the w^ill, the last payment 
was not made till 1781. lii that 
year Treasurer Storer acknowledges 
the receipt of £200 m full of ihit^ 
legacy.] 

Rev. Edmund Brown, of Sudbury, 
bequeathed .£100, which the College 
never obtained, notwithstanding ttie 
executor was sued for it. 

Madam Mary Anderson gave 

Nathaniel Hulton, senior, citizen and 
Salter of London, 

Thomas Gunston. of Stock-Ne wing- 
ton, 

Hon. Robert Boyle s:ave £45 per an 

Amount carried forward, 



£ Sterlins. 
3481 17 2A 



10 
1000 



Mass. Currency. 

4502 6 2 



400 
100 



500 



100 
50 



564117 21 



4748 19 6 



APPENDIX. 



167 



Date 
1697 



169S 



1705 

1708 



1713 



Amount brought forward, 
num " for the salaries of two minis 
ters to teach the natives in the Chris 
tian Religion." 

[No payment of this annuity was 
made till 1710, when, in compensa- 
tion for the delay, it w^as agreed that 
double the amount should be paid 
for sbc years, and after that, £45 
were regularly paid till 1785. This 
makes its duration equivalent to a 
period of 81 years, and the sum re- 
ceived, in all, £3645.] 

Mr. EUakim Hutchinson gave £10, 
declaring his purpose to give £10 
per annum as long as the govern 
ment should be such as he approved 
[He continued the benefaction till 
his death in 1717, when the whole 
amount received was] 

Hon. William Stoughton erected 
building, called Stoughton Hall [the 
first of that name] at the cost of 

In 1700, probably, the same gen 
tleman gave a large silver bowl 
48^ oz., and a goblet, 21 oz. 

Capt. Richard Sprague, late of Charles 
town, 

Benjamin Brown, of Salem, bequeath- 
ed for indigent .students . 

Thomas Brattle, Esq., for a mathemati- 
cal instructer or professor, 

[At this period began the de- 
preciation of the currency of the 
Province, in consequence of the 
issue of bills of credit by the govern 
ment. Specie disappeared, and the 
bills increased in number, and di- 
minished in value, till after 1750, 
when a large sum in silver was re 
ceived from England, to reimburse 
the expenses of the Colony in the 
French war, and formed a sufficient 
basis of circulation till the war of 
the Revolution. The rate of depre 
ciation is adopted generally on the 
authority of Mr. Felt, though mem- 
oranda in the College records, and 
some private sources of information 
have been consulted, and occasion 

Amount carried forward, 



I £ Sterling. 
5641 17 2 ' 



iMas5.Currency. 
4748 19 6 



3645 



15 12 9 



200 



1000 



400 
200 



200 



9302 9 111 6748 19 6 



168 



APPENDIX. 



Date 

1713 



1714 
1716 



1717 
1718 

1719 



Amount brought forward, 
ally followed. Probably prices in 
the money market were not so defi 
nite as they would have been in a 
larger and more wealthy commu 
nity, and the rates here given must 
be considered as generally, rathei 
than universally, correct.] 

Thomas Richards, £30, at 33^ per 
cent, discount, is equal to 

Rev. Daniel Williams, an annuity of 
£60 for the support of two preach- 
ers among the " Indians and Blacks,' 
representing a capital 

[This annuity has long since ceas- 
ed to be paid ; but the unexpended 
balances have laid the foundation of 
a fund which now amounts to 
$15,000, and upward.s, the income of 
which is still devoted to the original 
purpose.] 

William Brown, of Salem, for indi- 
gent students, £100, at 40 per cent 
discount from sterling money, or 15 
per cent, from the standard of the 
Province, 

General Nicholson gave a number of 
books. 

Rev. William Brattle, of Cambridge, 
£250, at 40 per cent, discount 

Madam Hutchuison, widow of Elia- 
kim H., £10, at 50 per cent, dis- 
count, 

John Walley, Esq., £100, at 50 
cent, discount, 

THOMAS MOLLIS. [The first do- 
nation from this distinguished bene- 
factor was received this year, and 
was followed, as will be seen, by 
many generous gifts in subsequent 
years. The present list of them has 
been made out, with much care, 
from original documents, — many of 
them in Hoilis's own hand, and oth- 
ers being accounts by the College 
treasurers of the funds received 
from him.] This year, in Massa- 
chusetts currency, £296. 16. 1^, 
which, at 50 per cent, discount, is 
equal to 



per 



Amount carried forward, 



£ Sterling. 

9302 9 li; 



20 



1000 



60 



5 








50 









148 8 01 



10,73518016748 19 6 



Mass.Currency. 

6748 19 6 



APPENDIX. 



169 



Date 

Amount hroug-ht forward, 

1720 Hon. Samuel Brown, of Salem, £150, 
equal to 

HoLLis gave, this year, a large num 
ber of books, and in money£665. 5, 
or 

1721 And the next year £1784. 13., equal, 
at 54 per cent, discount, to 

1722iHoLLis gave many valuable books, a 
portrait of himself, and money to 
the amount of £332. 10. currency 
which, at 57 per cent, discount, is 
equal to 

1723 Capt. Ephraim Flynt, of Concord, 

£100 at 60 per cent, discoimt 

Samuel Gerrish, books valued at £10 



£ Sterling. 
10,735 18 0^ 

/5 



332 12 

820 19 



Mass.Cnrrency. 
6748 19 6 



currency, or .... . 

Henry Gibbs, of "Watertown, £100. 
equal to 

Madam Mary Saltonst all, wife of Gov, 
Saltonstall, gave £100 currency, or 

HoLLis gave many books for the libra- 
ry, and hi money £5S0, which, at 
60 per cent, discount, is 

1724 Thomas Danforth, Esq., of Cambridge, 

£100, at 64f per cent, discount, 

John Frizzle, Esq., bequeathed £150, 
equal to 

HoLLis presented books to the value of 
and procured more from the follow- 
ing persons, viz. : 

John Mollis, liis brother, to the value 
of 

Thomas Hollis, his nephew, 

Dr. Isaac Watts, 

Rev. Joseph Hussey, and probably from 

Mr. Harris, of London. 

[The value of the above four gifts 
is not stated.] 

1725 Mrs. Anne Mills bequeathed £50, dis- 
count 64| per cent. 

Hon. Gurdon Saltonstall, Governor of 
Connecticut, bequeathed £100 
which, at the same discount, is 

HoLLis gave three valuable cases of 
books, (cost not stated.) and pro- 
cured a large number, also, from the 
following persons : 

Rev. Dr. Guise, of Hertford, 

IVIr. Ducane, of London, 5 guineas 

Amount caiTied forward, 



43 


4 3^ 


40 





4 





40 





40 






232 
35 6 8 



53 
100 



64 



17 13 4 



35 6 8 



12,769 84 6748 19 6 



170 



APPENDIX. 



Date 
1725 



1726 



1727 



1729 

1730 

1731 



1731 



Amount brought forward, . 
towards purchase of Mr. Boyle's 
sermons, 

Edward Leeds, of Hackney, 

William Woolley, of Clapton, Hack- 
ney, and probably 

John Lloyd, of London. 

HoLLis sent to the College, besides 
another large number of books, 
money to the amount of £1,170 
currency, which, at 66| per cent. 

discount, is 

This Avas for his professorship of 
Mathematics. He also procured a 
present of Greek and Hebrew 
types from a friend of his, which 
cost £117 of our currency, or in 

London 

And he induced the two following 
gentlemen to send a donation of 
books to the library, viz. : 

Dr. Richard Mead, and 

Mr. John Reynolds, timber merchant, 
London. 

Rev. Thomas Cotton, of London, 
£100 for President's salary, . 
And £100 for books, at 66f per 
cent, discount, .... 

HoLLis gave an apparatus for exper- 
imental philosophy, wliich cost in 
England . " . 

And presented many valuable 
books given by himself and liis 
friends. 

John and William Vassal gave each 
a silver tankard, weighing about 
20 ounces, worth probably about . 

Madam Mary Saltonstall beqeathed 
£1000,average discount 70 per cent. 

Col. Samuel Brown, of Salem, left 
by his will £60 to the College, for 
the purchase of a piece of plate 
Discount that year about 68 per 
cent. ..... 

Mr. John Chester, of Connecticut 
£50, equal to 

Mr. Nathaniel Hollis, brother to 
Thomas, .... 

Mr. Thomas Hollis, son of Nathaniel 

Amount carried forward, 



£ Pterlin?. 
12,769 84 

5 5 



390 



39 



33 6 
33 6 



126 10 



10 10 
300 



19 4 
16 



100 



13,842 3 O4 6748 19 6 



Mass.Currency, 
6748 19 6 



APPENDIX. 



171 



Date I 

Amount brought forward. 

1732 and heir to Thomas, who died in 
I January of this year, . 

1733 Rev. Dean Berkeley procured for the 
College a valuable collection of 
Greek and Latin books. , 

Mr. Thomas HoUis also presented a 
valuable collection of books, and 

1734 the next year he gave Hiiutiier. 

1737 Hon. Thomas Fitch, of Boston, be 
queathed ^300, discomit 77 per 
cent 

President Wadsworth, £110, at 77 

per cent, discount, is . 
Rev. Dr. Guise, ) presented some 
Rev Dr. Watts, \ books, and Dr 

"Watts gave all his own works, as 

they appeared. 

1738 John EUery, of Hartford, £150, at 
78 per cent, discount, . 

James Townsend, of Boston, £500, 
for the Hollis Professor of Divinity 

1739 Hon. Tliomas Hutchinson, £300, foi 
the Hollis Professor of Divinity, 

Mrs. Dorothy Saltonstall, of Boston 
bequeathed £300 for indigent 
scholars, discount 78 per cent. 

1742 Daniel Henchman, Esq , presented 
100 ounces of silver for the bene 
fit of the Professor of Divinity, 

Mrs. Holden, widow of Mr. Holden 
of London, — merchant, and gov 
ernor of the bank of England, — 
and her daughters, gave for the 
building of a chapel, 

1743 President Holyoke, £100, at 80 per 
cent, discount, .... 

1744 Hon. Colin Campbell, of the Island 
of Jamaica, gave a new transit 
instrument, and repaired the qua- 
drant, at a large expense. 

Hon. Andrew Oliver, presented a 
folio Bible for Holden Chapel. 
1747 Daniel Henchman, Esq., bequeathed, 
£250, at 85 per cent, discount, 

equal to 

[This bequest, as well as the 
previous gift of 100 ounces of sil- 
ver, was for the bentjt of the 
Hollis Professor of Divinity, pro- 



Amount carried forward, 



£ Sterling. 
13,842 3 

200 



69 
25 6 



33 

110 

66 

66 

22 10 



400 
20 



37 10 Q. 



Mass .Currency. 
6748 19 6 



14,891 9 01 6748 19 6 



172 



APPENDIX. 



Date 

1747 



1748 



1750 



1752 



Amount brought forward, 
vided he was "in full communion 
with some Congregational or 
Presbyterian Church, and laught 
the principles of the Christian re 
ligion according to the well known 
confession of faith drawn up by 
the synod of the churches in New 
England." Otherwise the interest 
was to be given to some deserving 
indigent student.] 

Col. John Vassall gave a very valu 
able reflecting telescope. 

The Society for the Propagation of 
the Gospel made a large donation 
of books, through the Bishop of 
Cloyne, by whose influence they 
were procured. 

Mr. Francis Archibald, and 

Mr. William Davis, of Boston, gave 
some anatomical preparations. 

Hon Judge Dudley bequeathed for 
an annual lecture £133. 6. 
which, at 90 per cent, discount, is 

Mr. Henry Slierburne, of Port 
mouth, N. H., £100, at 90 per 
cent, discount, 

Rev. Ebenezer Turell, of Medford, 
is supposed to have given the an- 
tique chair, called the President's 
chair; but at what period is not 
known. It is only a tradition that 
it was received during the presi 
dency of Holyoke. 

Admiral Warren gave a fme reflect- 
ing telescope. 

William James, Esq., of Jamaica, 
medical books, to the valu'^ of 

[At this date, the process of a 
restoration of the currency to a 
specie basis was in progress ; and 
the College found itself a loser by 
the foregoing extraordinary de- 
preciation, to the extent of 75 per 
cent, of its property invested in 
bonds, and notes. The income of 
the foundations of the Hollis pro- 
fessorships was reduced from £80 
per annum to £20. See copy of 
a memorial of the Corporation to 



Amount carried forward, . 14,939 15 84 674S 19 6 



£ Sterling. IMass.Currency. 
14,891 9 0| 6748 19 6 



13 6 8 
10 



25 



APPENDIX. 



173 



Date 



1752 
1758 



1760 



1761 



1762 



1763 



1764 



Amount brought forward, 
the legislature in 1779, among the 
files in the safe at the library.] 

Daniel Henchman, the income to be 
divided between the two HoUis 
professors, .... 

Thomas HoUis, of Lincoln's Inn, 
grandson of Nathaniel Holl 
through his son Thomas, made 
his first donation of books to the 
library tliis year. [It consisted of 
Milton's Works, 2 vols., and 44 
vols, of tracts, all in quarto. This 
was the forerunner of many simi- 
lar gifts.] 

Samuel Epes, Esq., of Ipswich, be- 
queathed, without any restriction, 
the sum of . 

Henry Flynt, Esq., the worthy tutor 
of fifty-five vears' standing, be- 
queathed £700. O. T., for the ben- 
efit of the tutors, and £112. 10 
O. T , or 50 Spanish dollars, for 
the benefit of one or more needy 
scholars. These sums are equiva 
lent, respectively, to 

and 

Hon. "William Dummer bequeathed, 
for the purchase of books 
and for the benefit of the Hollis 
professors, .... 

Hon. Thomas Hancock, gave a fine 
reflecting telescope. 

Stephen Sewall, A. B., for the pro- 
fessor of Hebrew, £100, O. T., . 

Samuel Dean, A. M., tutor, ^ pre- 

Stephen Sewall, A. B., and > sent- 

Andrew Eliot, A. B. ) ed a 

clock for the Buttery, 
[A general subscription was made 
this year for the purpose of repair- 
ing the loss occasioned by the de- 
struction of Harvard Hall by fire. 
The names of the donors, with the 
sums they contributed, are pre- 
served in the College Records, 
but it will be sufficient to state 
here the sum received from the 
several towns or counties. They 
were os follows.] 

Amount carried forward. 



£ Sterling. 
14,939 15 83 



70 
11 5 



15,021 81 



M.isg. Currency. 

6748 19 6 



66 13 4 



300 



66 13 4 
133 6 8 



13 6 8 



4 



7332 19 6 



174 



APPENDIX. 



Date 

1764 



1765 



Amount brought forward, 



Boston, 

Charlestown, 

Marblehead, 

Salem, 

Worcester County, 

Cambridge, 

Gloucester, 

Newbury, 

Barnstable County, 

Other places, . 



£476 6 
25 13 
53 17 
98 6 9 
33 2 
65 12 6 
28 19 
23 5 
11 6 
57 15 



Thomas Hollis, of Lincoln's Tnn, 
And a case of books containing 56 
vols. Books were also present- 
ed by the following persons, viz. : 

Dr. Drummond, Archbi^;hop of York, 

Benjamin Avery, LL.D. 

Dr Lardner, 

Mr Peter Livius, N. H. 

Mr. Nathaniel Neal, 

Rev. William Harris, of Honiton, 
Devonshire, 

Joseph Jennings, 

Rev Jonas Merriam, 

Rev. John Usiier, of Bristol, R. I. 

The Society for Propagating the 
Gospel in Foreign Parts, 

The Society for Propagating the 
Gospel in New England and the 
parts adjacent, . . . . 

Dr. Erskine, of Edinburgh, and 

Dr. Fothergill, of London, presented 
valuable bo<jks. 

Thomas Hollis, of Lincoln's Inn, 
nine cases of valuable books. 

The General Assembly of New 
Hampshire, on the recommenda- 
tion of Guv. Benning Wentworth, 
gave books to the value of 

Rev. Joseph Sewall, 

The Society for Propagating the 
Gospel in" New England and the 
parts adjacent, .... 

Rev. George Whitefield, 

Hon. Thomas Hancock, for a pro- 
fessorship of Hebrew and other 
Oriental Languages, — the first 
professorship founded by a native 
of New England, 

Amount carried forward, 



£ Sterling. 
15,021 85 



200 



100 
200 



100 
5 5 



1000 



16,626 5 



Mass.Currency. 

7332 19 6 



878 16 9 



300 
20 



8531 16 3 



APPENDIX. 



175 



Date 

1765 



1766 



1767 



Amount brought forward, 

Hon. John Alford, 

[This legacy was given to Har 
vard College by the executors of 
Mr. Alford's will, he havin 
merely directed that a certain 
portion of his estate should be de- 
voted to "pious and charitable 
purposes," leaving the selection 
of those purposes to his execu 
tors.] 

The Edinburgh Society for Promot 
ing Religious Knowledge present 
ed 25 volumes of books, and other 
cases to the value of . 
Books were also given by 

The Rev. East Apthorp, 

John Beaton, 

Thomas Bromfield and Mi's. Grace 
Gardner, 

Rev. John Erskine, 

Thomas Hollis, of Lincoln's Inn, 
seven cases of valuable books. 

Richard Jackson, of London, a num 
ber of valuable books. 

Mr. Kincaid, the king's printer, at 
Edinburgh, a number of valuable 
books. 

Edward Kitchen, of Salem, devised 
to the College, 

Samuel Quincy, of Boston, gave 
a carpet for the apparatus cham- 
ber, and books were presented 
by the following persons, name 
ly: 

John Langdon, of Boston, 

Jasper Mnuduit, of London, 

Daniel Mildred, of do., in behalf of 
a " meeting for the sufierings of 
the Quakers," 

Capt. Jn Miller, of Charlestown 
to the value of . . . 

Epes Sargent, to the value of 

Barlow Trecothick, Esq., Alderman 
of London, 

The trustees of the British Museum. 

Hon. John Hancock subscribed 
^500 sterling for the purchase of 
books for the library. The ordei 
sent to London, however, cost 

Amount carried forward, 



£ Fterlinj;. 

16,626 5 81 



10 12 11 



M.isp. Currency. 

8531 16 3 
13G2 8 5 



133 6 8 



7 4 
10 



16,636 18 n 10,044 15 4 



176 



APPENDIX. 



Date 

1767 



1768 



1769 



1770 



Amount brought forward, 
£54. 4. in addition, making his 
donation 

Dr. Lardner gave lour volumes of 
his works, and many other persons 
contributed to the growth of the 
new hbrary. 

Dr. Haberden presented 

Tliomas Hohis gave fourteen boxes 
of books, and subscribed for Plii 
losophical Apparatus, 

Timothy Mollis, 

Jasper Mauduit, 

John South, .... 

Messrs. Tappanden and Hanby, 

Hon. James Bowdoin presented an 
Orrery which cost 

Thomas HoUis, of Lincoln's Inn 
seven more cases of books. 

Lieut. Gov. Hutchinson, Samuel 
Savage, merchant, of London, 
Hon. Royall Tyler, and Rev. 
George 'Whiteheld, each gave 
sundry books, and the latter gen- 
tleman "procured large benefac- 
tions for the College." 

Thomas Hollis, of Lincoln's Inn, 
again presented three cases of 
books, and many volumes were 
given by a considerable number 
of persons, among others, some 
by Dr. Franklin. 

President Holyoke bequeathed 

Thomas Hubbard, the treasurer of 
the College from 1752 to 1773, 
gave, towards repairing the loss 
sustained by the burning of Har- 
vard Hall, 

Society fur Propagating Christian 
Knowledge, in Scotland, gave, for 
tiie purchase of books for the 
library, 

Dr. E. A. Holyoke, of Salem, gave 
a telescope of tu-enty-eightfeet. 

Thomas HuUis, of Lincoln's Inn, two 
large boxes of books. 

Anthony Ferguson, for the purchase 
of books, .... 



£Sterlins:. 

16,636 18 11 



554 4 



Amount carried forward, 



3 3 



200 

20 

50 

10 

10 10 



86 5 



100 



30 



3 



IVTnss.Currency. 

10,044 15 4 



17,704 ni 



10,058 2 



APPENDIX. 



177 



Date 

Amount brought forward 
Books were also presented by 
several other persons this year, 

1771 Dr. Ersidne, Dr. Franklin, and Gov. 
Pownal gave more books 

1772 Nicholas Boylston, Esq. merchant, of| 
Boston, bequeathed for the sup 
port of a Professor of Rhetoric, 

Dr. N. Appleton, of Cambridge, for 
a scholarship, 

Hon. John Hancock presented 
carpet for the Library, and one for 
the philosophy chamber, and paper 
for the walls of the latter. He 
added some books to his former 
donations 

Dr. Ezekiel Hersey, of Hingham, for 
a professorship of Anatomy and 

PhVsic, 

Boolcs were given by many 
individuals, and among others by 

Thomas Palmer, Esq. who presented 
the Account of Herculaneum, in 
20 vols, folio. 

Samuel Sparrow, of London, mer- 
chant, gave a collection of books 
valued at 

Thomas Wibird left, for the purchase 
of books, a legacy of , 

1773 Dr. Cooper gave, for books, the sum 
of 

Several other persons presented 
a few volumes each. 
74Hon. John Hancock again gave 
some boolcs, as did several other 
gentlemen. 

Thomas HoUis, of Lincoln's Inn, 
who died in this year, bequeathed 
for a fund for the purchase of 
books, the sum of 

Hon. Thomas Hubbard, the late 
treasurer, bequeathed . 
And a part of his library. 

Josiah Quincy, Jr. bequeathed to the 
College the sum of £2000 sterling, 
in case his son Josiah should die 
before attaining his majority, or 
without issue. As "his son Jo- 
siah " is still living, .surrounded by 
all " that should accompany old 



£ Sterling, 
17,704 71 



20 
50 



500 



Mass.Currency. 
10,058 2 



1500 
30 



1000 



8 



300 



Amount carried forward, . 18,274 
12 



7J 12,896 2 



178 



APPENDIX. 



Date 

Amount brought forward 
age," the College has never re 
ceived this legacy in money, but 
has enjoyed the benefit of the ser- 
vices of that son, as its president, 
for the term of nearly seventeen 
years, "by which the College hath 
been a great gainer." 
1777 Rev. John Barnard, of Marblehead 
bequeathed 

1779 Theodore Atkinson, of Portsmouth 
bequeathed to the College ,£100 
sterling ; but of this nothing was 
received till 1804, when there is 
credit in the College books of 

No more appears ever to have 
been obtained 
George Gardner, of Salem, be 
queathed the sum of £1333, but it 
does not appear that anything was 
ever received on account of it 

1780 Joseph Mico, of London, who for 
forty years performed the business 
of the College without charge 
was deservedly enrolled among its 
benefactors, by a vote of the Cor- 
poration. The amount which he 
miglit reasonably have charged 
for his services, though unknown, 
cannot be deemed inconsiderable 

The Royal Society presented Maske- 
line's Astronomical Observations. 

1783 Benjamin Pemberton, Esq. be- 

queathed 
The Royal Society voted to send 
their publications annually, 

1784 Rev, Dr. Appleton bequeathed, for 

the same purpose for which he 

gave £30 in 1772, 
The following persons presented 

books to the library this year, viz 
Rev. Dr. Erskine, 
Rev. Hugh Farmer, 
Mr. William Poster, 
Mr. Benjamia Guild, 
Thomas Brand HoUis, 
Dr. John Jeflries, 
Gen. Knox, 

Thomas Lee, Esq. of Cambridge, 
,Rev. Mr. Lindsey, 
Dr. Price, 

Amount carried forward, 



£ Sterling. 

18,274 73 



18,274 73 13,186 16 6 



APPENDIX. 



179 



Date 



1785 

1789 
1790 

1791 



1792 
1793 



1794 



Amount brought forward, 

Rev. Ttioinas Reader, 

Rev. Mr. Toulinin, 

Jas. Wiiithiojo, Esq. 

The king of France offered to send 
from the Royal Garden seeds and 
plants, free of expense. 

The Meteorological Society of Man- 
heim ofiered to send Meteorologi- 
cal instruments, &c. 

Mrs. Joanna Alford, for indigent 

students, 

Books were presented by sun- 
dry persons, among others, a val- 
uable collection by 

Granville Sharp. 

Thomas Brand HoUisgave, this year, 
as he had alsodone in 1787 and 1788, 
many curious and valuable buoks. 

Mrs. Sarah Derby, in aid of the pro- 
fessorship founded by her late 
hu>band, Dr. E. Hersey, 

Mrs. Sarah Winslow, for the aid of the 
town of Tyng.sborough, in support- 
ing a minister and a sclioolmaster, 

Hon. James Bowdoin, for prizes for 
dissertations. 

Dr. Erskine, a frequent benefactor in 
former years, again gave a num- 
ber of books. 

Major William Erving, for a profes- 
sorship of chemistry. 

Also many of the boolis of his 
hbrary. 

Mr. Edward Savage presented a 
portrait of Gen. Washington 

Col. John Trumbull, a portrait of 
Cardinal Bentivoglio. 

Dr. John Cuming, for the professor 
of Physic, £300 sterling, 

Thomas Brand Mollis, many valua- 
ble books. 

Dr. Lettsom, of London, in addition 
to several gifts previously made, 
this year presented a valuable col- 
lection of minerals, numbering 
more than 700 specimens. 

Dr. Abner Hersey, of Barnstable, 
bequeathed, for the Professor ol 
Physic, 



18.274 73 17,993 14 9 
Converted to dollars, and carried forward, $141,197 04 



£ Sterling. 

18,274 7^ 



Mass.Currency. 
13,186 16 6 



133 6 8 



1006 1 7 

1367 10 
400 



1000 



400 



500 



180 



APPENDIX. 



Date 



179S 
1800 



1801 



i8o: 



1805 



1806 



Amount brought forward, . 

Jonathan Mason, of Boston, for the Professor of Di- 
vinity, $500, 

Ward N. Boylston, for the purchase of medical and 
surgical works, $500, ...... 

He also presented, at sundry times, a number 
of books of this description, together with prints 
&c. 

Dr. John Nichols, of London, presented a large num- 
ber of anatoiiiical preparations, calculi, engrav- 
ings, iScc. 
L'Saumel Shapleigh, late librarian, gave a piece of real 
estate in Kittery, and the " residue " of his estate for 
the increase of the library. Tlae sum obtained from 
this bequest was 

Ward N. Boylston, Esq. an annuity of $100, for prizes 
(or dissertations on medical subjects, equal to the 
sum of $2000, which was afterwards obtained 
for it, 

A subscription was raised for establishing a Botanic 
Garden, and a professorship of Natural History, for 
which purposes there was contributed the sum 
of 

Thomas Brand Hollis bequeathed, for the library, £100 

I sterhng, 

1811 Samuel Dexter, for a lectureship, for the critical expo- 
I sition of the Scriptures, .... 

1812 Mary Lindall, of Charlestown, for indigent scholars, 
I £100, 

1814 Esther Sprague, of Dedham, for the professor of the 

Tlieory and Practice of Physic, . . . . 

Samuel EHot, for professorship of Greek Language 

and Literature, 

1815 Samuel Parkman, for a professorship of Theology, a 
I township of land in Maine, for which was obtained 
I afterwards the sum of 

1816 Count Rumford, for a professorship, or lectureship, on 
the application of science to the arts, 

Abiel Smith, for a professorsMp of the French and 
Spanish Languages, 

A subscription for establishing a Theological School 
in connection with the College amounted to . 

Ward N. Boylston, for prizes for elocution, an annuity 
of $50, afierwards $60, subsequently $1000, . 

Israel Tliorndike, for the purchase of books, for theo- 
logical library, 

Judge Wendell, twenty half eagles, for a Christening 
basin, ; 

Israel Tliorndike presented the Ebeling Library, which 



Amount carried forward. 



Dollars. 
141,197 04 



1817 



181S 



297,408 14 



APPENDIX. 



181 



Date! 

I Amount brought forward 

1S19 Theodore Lyman, Jr. presented the Panorama of 

Athens, valued at 

Drs. James Jackson, John C. "Warren, John Gorham, 
Walter Channing, and Jacob Bigelow, professors in 
the Medical School, presented a library to the Med- 
ical Collej^e. 
Ward N 



1820 



1821 



1822 



1823 



1825 



1826 



1829 



Boylston presented many volumes to the 
Medical Library. 

Moses Brown bequeathed to the Theological Institu- 
tion, 

Several gentlemen gave to the Mineralogical Cabinet 
about 

Thomas Gary, for aid to theological students, bequeath- 
ed the "residue " of his estate, which amounted to 
about 

Thomas Palmer bequeathed his library of 1200 vol- 
umes, valued at 

Andrew Ritchie presented a valuable collection of 
minerals. 

An anonymous donation, of which the income is to be 
given to the most distinguished scholar among the 
indigent members of the senior class. 

Subscription for a professor of Mineralogy and Geol- 
ogy, 

James Perkins, for a professorship, such as "the 
President and Fellows, with the concurrence of the 
Overseers, shall judge to be most useful," 

James Winthrop bequeathed his collection of coins, 
valued at 

S. A. Eliot gave the Warden Library 

The Jjinnaean Society gave their coUection of animals, 
shells, minerals, &c. valued at .... 

William Breed left a portion of the residue of his prop- 
erty, to be giv^en by his executor " to objects of 
charity, or for the promotion of learning, piety, and 
religion, especially among the rising generation."" In 
pursuance of this direction, his executor, the Hon. 
P. O. Thacher, appropriated to the College 

A person unknown gave, for the purchase of books, . 

Rev. F. Parkman presented 400 models of crystals. 

'vVilliam H. Eliot gave a copy of the " Description de 
I'Egypte, 

Another subscription was made in this year for the 
benefit of the Theological School, and the Societyi 
for the Promotion of Theological Education in Har- 
vard University was formed. The sum collected at 
this time was .1 

Nathan Dane, for a Profesi'orship of Law, . . J 

George Partridge, for the Theological School, . 



Dollars. 
297,408 14 



2,500 00 



2,000 00 
2,300 00 



3,690 00 
2,500 00 



1,200 00 
1,200 00 



20,000 00 

253 00 
5,000 00 

300 00 



2,000 00 
50 00 



1,000 00 



19,322 23 

10,000 00 

2,000 00 



Amount carried forward, 



.'372,633 37 



182 



APPENDIX. 



1830 



1831 



1832 



1834 



Date 

Amount brought forward 

Subscription for a Professorship of Pulpit Eloquence 
and Pastoral Care, to which Rev. Henry Ware, Jr 
was first appointed, 

Eben Francis, treasurer, gave the amount of his com 
mission from the Mollis Funds, for a clock for the 
Library- 
Christopher Gore* gave the residue of his estate, of 
which $38,000 are reserved for annuities bequeathed 
by him. The whole, ultimately receivable by the 
College, amounts to 

Thomas Perkins, for an essay on the efiects of intern 
perance, and for another on the importance of indus- 
trious habits in youth, 

Isaiah Thomas bequeathed books from his library, to 
the value of 

Thomas W. Ward gave an interesting collection of 
Crania, casts, and drawings, which had belonged to 
the late Dr. Caspar Spurzlieim, valued at about 
1833 Samuel Livermore, of Portsmouth, N. H. bequeathed 
his whole library of {ureiga law, 300 volumes, val- 
ued in the inventory of his estate, at 

Rev. George Cliapman, intestate, desired that the res 
idue of his estate should be given to Harvard Col- 
lege, for the benefit of indigent students in the The- 
ological School. This wish was carried into eflect 
by his heirs, and the sum received from the late 
Jonathan Chapman, his brother, was 

Joshua Fisher, for the foundation of a Professorship of 
Natural History, ^ 

John McLean,! for a Professorship of History, 

Rev. Dr. Eliphalet Porter, fur promoting Tlieological 

Education, 

1835 Sarah Jaclcson, for the aid of indigent theological stu- 
dents, 

William Pomerov, for the same object, 

Dr. William J. Walker, half the proceeds of a share 
in the Athenaeum, 

Hannah C. Andrews, for the Theological School, 

Joshua Clapp, for do. 

The class graduating in 1836 gave 111 volumes to the 
Library. 

N. Dane, in addition to $10,000 given in 1831, for the 
Law School, 

Thirteen gentlemen subscribed $10 each for a portrait 
of Chancellor Kent, to be placed in the Law Li- 
brary, 

^Several gentlemen subscribed for the purpose of rais- 



1836 



1838 



Amount carried forward. 



Dollars, 
372,633 37 



547,955 09 



* This bequest was made in 1826. 
t Tliis bequest was made in 1821. 



APPENDIX. 



183 



Date 

Amount brought forward, 
ing- a fund, the income of wliich should be loaned to 
meritorious students, and the sum contributed was 
placed in the hands of trustees for this purpose. Ii 
amounted to $12,050, 

Thirty genilemeu also contributed $100 each for an 
Astronomical Observ^atory, 

Dr. T. M. Harris save 400 volumes to the Theologi- 
cal School. 

The heirs of the late William Taylor, Esq. gave about 
700 volumes to the College Library 

Timothy Walker bequeathed to the Theolog-ical 
School 

1839 Joshua Clapp, a second donation to the Theological 

I School, 

JMrs. Mary Tufts, for do 

1840 John Foster, for the aid of professional students, 
Dr. F. Parkman, for a professorship in the Theologi- 
cal School, 

1841 Mrs. Cragie bequeathed a valuable collection of 
shells. 

The Misses Dunster, only surviving descendants of 
President Dunster, presented his Bible, of which the 
Old Testament is in Hebrew, and the New Testa- 
ment in Greek 

Henry Lienow devised one half of the residue of his 
estate to Harvard College, for the use of the Theo- 
logical School. There has been received from it, 
up to tliis time, August, 1848, the sum of 

The Society for Promoting Theological Education in 
Harvard College, gave for increasing the amount 
appropriated to the Dexter Lectureship on Biblical 
Criticism, the sum of 

1842 The Association of the Alumni, for defraving in part 
the expense of providing a large hall for public 
meetings, 

Francis Peabody presented a valuable telescope. 
Chief Justice Shaw, a copy of Stuart's portrait of 

Washington. 
A subscription was made for the College Library by 

thirty-four gentlemen, to the amount of 

1843 W. N. Boylston bequeathed, to be paid on the death 
of Mrs. Boylston, for the fund for prizes for Elocu- 
tion, 

Do. for the fund lor prizes for Medical Essays, 

Do. for the fund for an Anatomical Museum and 

Library Room, 

" A few friends of science " presented, through Prof 
Webster, a collection of minerals and fossils, wliicli 
cost 



Doll ars. 
547,985 09 



Amount carried forward. 



613,617 74 



184 



APPENDIX. 



Date 



1844 



1845 



1846 



1848 



Doll firs. 

Amount brought forward, , . 613,617 74 

Prof. Gray gave a collection of specimens of the rocks 
and minerals of New York and New Jersey, 

David Sears, for the erection of an Observatory 
Tower 

A subscription for a Telescope, and other instruments 
necessary for an Observatory, was raised this year, 
to the amount of 

Horace A. Haven bequeathed, for the purchase of 
mathematical and astronomical works for the Li- 
brary, ......... 

Israel Munson bequeathed unconditionally, 

William Prescott bequeathed, for the purchase of 
books for the Library, 

Leverett Saltonstall, for aid to indigent students, 

Alexander Vattemare presented some valuable books. 

David Sears, towards a fund for the salary of an ob- 
server, ......... 

Peter C. Brooks, for erecting a house for the Presi- 
dent, 

Hon. Thomas Grenville, of London, gave, through 
President Everett, XlOO for the purchase of books 
for the Library, 

Miss N. Kendall, for the Theological School, . 

Dr. George Parkman gave the land on which has 
been erected the new Medical School building. 

A subscription was made among the friends and pu- 
pils of Dr. Abbott, of Exeter, N. H. for the founda- 
tion of a Scholarship to be called by his name. The 
sum subscribed was 

"William G. Stearns presented a set of silver keys, 
with a case. 

A subscription for a fund to support an astronomical 
observer and his assistants for two years was made, 
which amounted to 

A subscription for the purchase of the skeleton of a 
Mastodon was made, to the amount of , 

A subscription for the new Medical School build- 
ing, 

A. W. Fuller, for the Theological School, . 

Dr George Hay ward, 152 models, of various forms of 
disease, to the cabinet of the Medical School. 

Dr. J. C. Warren, a cabinet of preparations to Medi- 
cal School, valued at 

Also a fund for the preservation and increase of the 
same, 5,000 00 

Abbott Lawrence, for the Scientific School, . . 50,000 00 

Edward B. Philhps bequeathed for the Observatory, 100,000 00 



858,067 74 



APPENDIX. 



185 



Dollars. 
To these gifts may be added the following dona- 
tions which have been made to the College, but are 
not yet received, being made payable at a future 
day: 

1841 |The bequest of the late Benjamin Bussey of the re- 
mainder of his whole estate, one half of which is to 
"be applied to the maintenance of a Manual Labor 
School upon his estate in Roxbury, and the other 
half is to be divided into equal parts, for the benefit 
of the Law School and the Theological School, 
connected with the College. The whole estate 
now amounts to about 320,000 00 

1845 The bequest of Jolm Parker, Jr. Esq. for the educa- 
tion of boys who show uncommon talent, whether 
before or after the period of entering College, and 
giving them the most thorough instruction in the 
branch of knowledge for which they are peculiarly 

^•^^I'fi^d' • • 50,000 00 



,370,000 00 



186 



APPENDIX. 



TABLE III. 



REAL ESTATE GIVEN AT VARIOUS PERIODS BY INDIVID- 
UALS AND THE TOWN OF CAMBRIDGE TO HARVARD 
COLLEGE. 



Date I 

1638 [Town of Cambridge gave 2| acres of land, 

1645 Mr John Buckley gave part of a garden containing 

about 1 acre and a rood, 

1646 Israel Stoughtou gave 200 acres, on the northeast 

side of Neponset, about Mother Brook, 
and 100 acres on Blue Hill side, 

Rev. Nathaniel Ward gave 600 acres, 

Major R. Sedgwick, two small shops in Boston. 
1649 Matthew Day, part of a garden of which Mr. John 
Buckley gave his share in 1645, 

Town of Cambridge gave a farm, at Shawshin (now 

Billerica,) 100 acres, 

to which Henry Dunster added 100 acres, 

Robert Cook gave to the College a grant from the 
General Court of 800 acres, whicli were never ob- 
tained. 

John Coggan gave a parcel of marsh land, lying in 
Rumney Marsh, 

John Hayward gave 30 acres, lying in Watertown, 
1660 Rev. Ezekiel Rogers gave the reversion of liis house 
and lands, which were sold, and a farm at Wal- 
tham, purchased, called Rogers farm, which pro- 
duced, in 1835, $5,000. 

Henry Webb gave his house and land which he pur- 
chased of H. Phillips, formerly owned by S. Oliver. 

The town of Cambridge, 3 acres, .... 

Town of Cambridge gave 30 acres of land and three 
commons, 

Richard Champney gave 40 acres, more or less, near 
the falls on Charles River, 

John Hayward gave his house-lot at Watertown, 24 
acres, 

Rev. Daniel Russell bequeathed 1000 acres at Winter 
Harbor, of wliich the College never obtained pos- 
session. 

Samuel Ward gave Ward's Island, 

Edward Jackson, 400 acres, 



1652 



1656 



1662 
1664 

1672 



1678 



1681 



Acres. 

2f 



Amount carried forward, 



200 
100 

6oa 



100 
100 



30 

40 
24 

400 
1,700^ 



APPENDIX. 



187 



Date 

Amount brought forward, 
1683 Town of Cambridge, 20 acres and three commons in 

Lexington, 

1689 Do. in Cambridge Rocks, in the 1st division, 12 acres, 
2d « lot 36, 12 acres 

1695 Theodore Atkinson gave a piece of land at south 

ward of Boston, about 20 rods. {Not obtained ) 

1696 Samuel Sewall and wife gave 500 acres, at Peta 

quamscot, 

1702 William Stoughton gave 23 acres of land in Dorches 

ter, and salt meadow 

1707 Town of Cambridge,Cambridge Roclcs, lot 66, 7^ acres 

"77, 1| ' 
" 12, 1^ ' 
1718 Proprietors of the town of Rutland, in Boston, gave 

250 acres, 

1724 Town of Cambridge, 3 acres, .... 
1731 Samuel Brown gave his estate purchased of Eleazer 
Giles, 200 acres ; also, stock belonging to his farm 
Isaac Royall gave 2,120 acres, or thereabout, 
Thomas Pownall, late Governor, gave 500 acres, for 
founding a Professorship of Political Law. These 
lands had been sold for taxes during the Revolu- 
tionary war, without the knowledge of the Gov- 
ernor, and the College never obtained from them 
more than enough to cover the expense of regain- 
ing possession. 
1801 Samuel Shapleigh bequeathed all his real estate. 
1814 Samuel Parkman gave a township of land in Maine, 

which was .sold for ^5,000, 

Thomas Cary bequeathed his real and personal estate. 



1820' 
1826 



1841 



C. Gore bequeathed all his real estate after provid- 
ing for certain legacies. 

Henry Lienow bequeathed a portion of his real and 
personal estate. 

Total 



Acres. 
17001 

20 
12 
12 



500 

23 
% 
1| 
7^ 

250 
3 

200 
2,120 



188 APPENDIX. 



PLAN OF THE COLLEGE ENCLOSURE. 

The size and limits of the following estates, as 
marked on the plan, are correctly given, from drawings 
or descriptions accompanying the deeds conveying the 
lands to the College ; and as they are comparatively 
recent purchases, no material doubt can arise respect- 
ing the accuracy of the delineation. 



The Bigelow Estate, purchased of the heirs of 
Abraham Bigelow, in 1835, 

The Foster Estate, purchased also in 1835 

The Parsonage Lot, purchased of the First Par 
ish of Cambridge, in 1833, 

The Meeting House Lot, purchased the same 
year, of the same party, measuring about 

The Sewall Lot, in 1805, 

The Wigglesworth Lot, purchased of the heirs 
of Professor Wigglesworth, in 1794 . . 

The Appleton Pasture, of the heirs of Dr. Ap 
pleton, 1786, the part now remaining in the 
College enclosure, measuring probably about 



Acres. 



1* 

2* 



^ 



lOO" 

88 

TOOT 



H 



Of the remaining lots, those of Sweetman and Betts 
present the least difficulty in fixing upon their precise 
situation. Sweetman's is described as being a lot of 
one acre, at the corner of the road leading to Charles- 
town, and running south to " the new building," which, 
in 1677, the date of the deed, was probably the second 
Harvard Hall. As the second Harvard stood almost 
exactly on the spot where the present building of the 
same name now stands, the situation and probable 
bounds of the lot are ascertained with tolerable precision. 



APPENDIX. 



189 



Betts's piece is described as being an acre and a 
rood in size, and as situated north of the Meeting 
House lot, and bounded by the Common on the west, 
Sweetman on the north, and land of the College on the 
east. 

The Fellows' Orchard is described in Buckley's deed 
to President Dunster, as being an acre, which he and 
others purchased of Goodman Marritt. Its place is 
fixed by tradition only ; but as that is unbroken and 
uncontradicted, it is an authority which cannot lightly 
be set aside. 

The lots of Eaton and Goffe are presumed to have 
been situated as marked on the plan, although no deeds 
or descriptions have been found, except the original 
grant from the town, of an acre and one eighth to each 
of those persons. There is great probability that these 
were the lots ; and that Goffe's land was purchased by 
the College is a matter of tradition, while Eaton's 
might have been taken in part payment of the debt he 
owed to the institution. 

There remains only the original appropriation by the 
town of two acres and two thirds to '' the school. 
This appears on the plan reduced to two and a quarter 
acres ; and it must be regarded as a pretty close ap 
proximation, considering the vagueness of the descrip 
tions given of so many of the adjoining lots, the pre 
vailing inaccuracy of measurement in those days 
(before land was sold by the square foot, and before 
square inches had become appreciable,) and making 
allowance for the quantity which has been taken by 
public authority for widening the streets, which, in the 
seventeenth century, were merely lanes. Considerable 
reductions must have been made, for this purpose, of 
all the ancient lots bounding on the Common, on Brain- 
tree, now Harvard street, and on the Charlestown road, 
now Kirkland street. 

The quantity of land contained in the several pieces 
last enumerated is K-f^^ acres ; which, added to the 



188 APPENDIX. 



PLAN OF THE COLLEGE ENCLOSURE. 

The size and limits of the following estates, as 
marked on the plan, are correctly given, from drawings 
or descriptions accompanying the deeds conveying the 
lands to the College ; and as they are comparatively 
recent purchases, no material doubt can arise respect- 
ing the accuracy of the delineation. 

Acres. 

The Bigelow Estate, purchased of the heirs of 
Abraham Bigelow, in 1835, IJ- 

The Foster Estate, purchased also in 1835 . 2^ 

The Parsonage Lot, purchased of the First Par- 
ish of Cambridge, in 1833, 4^ 

The Meeting House Lot, purchased the same 

year, of the same party, measuring about . -^q% 

The Sewall Lot, in 1805, ■^%% 

The Wigglesworth Lot, purchased of the heirs 
of Professor Wigglesworth, in 1794 . . . 4J- 

The Appleton Pasture, of the heirs of Dr. Ap- 
pleton, 1786, the part now remaining in the 
College enclosure, measuring probably about 2 



ip; 9 : 



Of the remaining lots, those of Svveetman and Betts 
present the least difficulty in fixing upon their precise 
situation. Sweetman's is described as being a lot of 
one acre, at the corner of the road leading to Charles- 
town, and running south to " the new building," which, 
in 1677, the date of the deed, was probably the second 
Harvard Hall. As the second Harvard stood almost 
exactly on the spot where the present building of the 
same name now stands, the situation and probable 
bounds of the lot are ascertained with tolerable precision. 



APPENDIX. 



189 



Betts's piece is described as being an acre and a 
rood in size, and as situated north of the Meeting 
House lot, and bounded by the Common on the west, 
Sweetman on the north, and land of the College on the 
east. 

The Fellows' Orchard is described in Buckley's deed 
to President Dunster, as being an acre, which he and 
others purchased of Goodman Marritt. Its place is 
fixed by tradition only ; but as that is unbroken and 
uncontradicted, it is an authority which cannot lightly 
be set aside. 

The lots of Eaton and Goffe are presumed to have 
been situated as marked on the plan, although no deeds 
or descriptions have been found, except the original 
grant from the town, of an acre and one eighth to each 
of those persons. There is great probability that these 
were the lots ; and that GofTe's land was purchased by 
the College is a matter of tradition, while Eaton's 
might have been taken in part payment of the debt he 
owed to the institution. 

There remains only the original appropriation by the 
town of two acres and two thirds to " the school." 
This appears on the plan reduced to two and a quarter 
acres ; and it must be regarded as a pretty close ap- 
proximation, considering the vagueness of the descrip- 
tions given of so many of the adjoining lots, the pre- 
vailing inaccuracy of measurement in those days, 
(before land was sold by the square foot, and before 
square inches had become appreciable,) and making 
allowance for the quantity which has been taken by 
public authority for widening the streets, which, in the 
seventeenth century, were merely lanes. Considerable 
reductions must have been made, for this purpose, of 
all the ancient lots bounding on the Common, on Brain- 
tree, now Harvard street, and on the Charlestown road, 
now Kirkland street. 

The quantity of land contained in the several pieces 
last enumerated is Kyuu acres ; which, added to the 



190 APPENDIX. 

ISy'o^j- acres included in the more recent purchases, 
makes the whole enclosure amount to a little more than 
23J- acres. 

The situation of the buildings is marked on the plan 
as follows : 

No. 1. Hoi worthy Hall, erected in . . . 1812 

2. Stoughton " » " . . 1804-5 

3. HoUis " « " . . 1762-3 

4. Holden Chapel, » " . . 1744 

5. Harvard Hall, erected in 1764, to replace the 

second Harvard Hall, which was burned in 
January of that year. 

6. Is what was called the Brew House in the 

early part of the last century. It was after- 
was included in the College Wood Yard. 

7. The first Stoughton Hall, erected in 1700. 

8. Massachusetts Hall, erected in 1719-20. 

9. Dane Hall, erected in 1832, enlarged in 1845. 

10. The site of the church of the First Parish in 

Cambridge, which was built in 1756 and 
taken down in 1833, when the present edi- 
fice was erected. 

11. The President's House, erected in 1726-7. 

12. Probable site of the Indian College. 

13. House owned and occupied by the Professors 

VVigglesworth ; removed in 1844. 

14. University Hall, erected in 1812-13. 

15. House formerly occupied by Professor Sewall, 

the first Professor of Hebrew and other 
Oriental Languages. 

16. Gore Hall, erected for the library, in 1839-42. 

17. Site of the former Parsonage House, taken 

down in 1843. 

18. ■» Houses occupied by Professors Felton, Walk- 

19. [ er, and Pierce. Nos. 19 and 20 were 

20. ) erected by the College in 1844. 



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